Mistaking Mistakes
by xXForevermoreXx
Summary: There was always something missing in his life though he'd never admit it, nor does he look for completion. He was clueless as to what was missing, until a woman risked their friendship, hoping that was what he needed to realize the missing part of him TP
1. Prologue

**Mistaking Mistakes**

There was always something missing in his life, though he'd never admit it, nor does he look for completion. He was clueless as to what was missing, until a woman risked their friendship, hoping that was what he needed to realize the missing part of him TP

A/N: Hey you guys! I finally came back from under the rock, so to speak. Summer's nearing, and I wanted to get distracted from certain things, so I decided to attempt to write a decent story, once again! I hope you enjoy it!

_Prologue_

Trunks Briefs stood from the balcony, during what seemed like a ridiculous time to others, but it wasn't unnatural for him. This wasn't his first time out at 3 a.m. staring at the sky, as if doing this will motivate him to continue believing he was complete. He had been doing this for weeks now, almost months, and for what reason? He didn't know. All he knew was that it calmed his mind.

Now that he thought about it, he hadn't had an intimate relationship with a woman for months now. Or was it years? He wasn't sure. So as he stared at the stars blinking above him, listen to the rustling of the leaves blowing from the wind, he contemplated. Of his life, his work, his family, and most of all, his friends. Everyone had noticed the lifeless eyes he had each day.

Heck, even his personal secretary Marron noticed something was wrong with him. Marron rarely noticed anything other than her boyfriend of the month. Well, she had just broken up with her May boyfriend, and it was only the 12th… She couldn't be trying to… Nah, she couldn't be… He was her boss and friend, for crying out loud! She would never hit on him, even if she and her ex broke it off a little early. Trunks laughed to himself as he thought this over. How ridiculous can he get? Last week, he even thought that Pan, yes, Pan Son, who is 14 years younger than him, had a crush on him!

He closed his eyes and sighed. What was wrong with him? What had changed in his life that made him this way? He used to be carefree, but something happened. He was sure it wasn't work. His feelings for his work were the same as always: he despised it. Nothing was different, but somehow his life started going downhill.

As time passed, he decided it was time to attempt to sleep for a few hours, until the annoying sound of his alarm clock beeping woke him up for work again. Trunks shut the door to the balcony behind him, and walked to his bed. He stumbled over his briefcase that lay on the floor and realized it was pitch dark in his room, as it usually was when he prepared to go to sleep. It was a habit he picked up after unintentionally getting drunk at the anniversary party of his 5th year of being CEO. He had toppled into his dark room, not bothering to turn on the lights so he wouldn't wake his parents. It was about 1:00 a.m. when he had done so, and he knew his father would assault him if he were to wake up to find his son drunk and speaking incoherently, annoying the daylights out of him.

Trunks inwardly grinned, replaying that day he made his mistake of thinking he could down a whole bottle of wine just because he was half saiyan. Yes, those were the days. Before those lifeless eyes replaced his piercing blue ones…

-

"Mr. Briefs, you are 5 minutes late."

_Please let it be a dream…_

"You are now 6 minutes late."

_Just leave me alone…_

"6 minutes and counting, Mr. Briefs."

_Why is life so cruel?_

"The clock is ticking, sir."

"Pan, how the heck do you get in my room?? Are you some kind of stalker, or am I missing something here??" Trunks threw a pillow at her, who was sitting at the foot of his bed as usual, and he quickly went under the covers, hoping to get more rest. He knew it would be impossible though, with the overly cheerful girl in his room. When she didn't respond, he lifted the covers, sat up, and looked over to where she lay. Her arms spread dramatically over the end of the bed where one of her legs hung from. Her eyes were closed, and the pillow he had thrown at her positioned near her head. Trunks couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous position she was currently in, despite how tired he was. He only had 4 hours of sleep, after all.

"You're laughing?" Pan turned her head to face him and opened her eyes. When they made eye contact though, she quickly shut her eyes again and sighed softly, appearing despondent.

Confused by her sudden reticence, Trunks poked her shoulder, waiting for a reaction. "Pan?" He nudged her leg with his that were still under the covers, but received no response. He tugged gently at her hair, but she still didn't respond. Becoming greatly worried, he crawled out of the warm blankets and approached her. He used his index and middle finger and searched for her pulse on her neck. The instant he touched her though, and before he could feel a pulse, her eyes immediately fluttered open, and she grabbed on to his hand. She looked at him and released his hand, closing her eyes again as she did so.

"I'm dead, Trunks. Dead people don't respond to any irritating action, no matter how infuriated they may get," She exclaimed, opening one of her eyes to peek at him. She didn't smile, nor did she frown, but Trunks could tell that she was slightly embarrassed, judging by the slight hint of pink on her cheeks. Pan peeked at him again with one eye slightly open, and when he just stared at her, she said, "Just humor me, Trunks, and play along."

His lips curved upward into a smile. "Why are you dead, Pan?"

"Because Mr. Briefs, you assaulted me with your pillow," She replied instantly, holding back a grin, though not so successfully. "Now, the only way you can reverse this is to quickly get up from bed, get ready for work, and get changed."

Trunks laughed at her remark. "Oh, and why would you think I'd want you to be magically resurrected?" he teased, receiving a shove from Pan, who had gotten up after hearing his comment. "I was just kidding, Pan," he said, chuckling at her expression. Still, she pouted and crossed her arms at him, refusing to meet his eyes.

"You're so mean, Trunks," she stated plainly, her voice firm, but he could tell that she was kidding by the way she glanced at him when she thought he wasn't looking.

"Oh come on, Panny, you know you don't mean that." Trunks snaked his arm around her shoulders, and brought her closer to him. As he did so, a blush formed on her face, and she automatically looked away from him, hoping he wouldn't notice. He noticed though, like always, and chuckled at how easy it was to get her embarrassed. Pan scoffed, but allowed him to hold her… That is, until his bedroom door flew open and Bulma ran into the room. Pan quickly shoved Trunks away and during this process, she fell on the floor with a loud _thump!_

"Trunks Briefs, you should be at work right now!! I didn't raise you to become like this!! Why, in my days, I-" Bulma had said more to him, but he had stopped listening altogether, and noticed Pan laying on the floor, pretending to be dead again.

Yes, another normal day of Trunks' life. He can't wait until he gets his own house, where he could do anything he wanted to, and most importantly, change the locks of his house whenever he pleased…

* * *

A/N: There! I edited it and made this first chapter longer. I figured that leaving just the prologue wasn't much to go on for people, so yeah. I hope you enjoyed it! don't forget to review:P 


	2. Bagels and Finding a Solution

Chapter 2 - Bagels and Finding a Solution

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"Pan, I'm going to change now, so don't wake up," Trunks told her as he got out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist from the shower he just took. He grabbed some clothes from his walk-in-closet and locked his bedroom door so no one would walk in on him changing.

Why didn't just make Pan get out of his bedroom instead while he changed, you ask? Well, to make things short, Trunks and Pan were very close friends. They were so close that they'd almost seem like a couple, if one didn't know any better. So while Trunks changed in the morning after getting woken up by Pan and scolded by his mother, he'd take a quick shower after his mother left, change while Pan was still in the room, and run to work.

"As if I really want to look, no matter how hot people _think_ you are," she retorted, still in the same position as she was when she fell off his bed, her eyes closed as she spoke.

Trunks smirked. "Yeah? Well, they don't 'think', Pan, they 'know'." He put on his boxers and pants, and went back into his closet, realizing he'd forgotten the top of his business suit outfit.

"You forgot the top half of your suit today, didn't you?" She asked after she heard his closet door close for the second time. "And whatever Trunks, your big 'ol fan of girls are crazy."

"Yes, I forgot the top part, and hey, just because they're crazy, it doesn't mean they have bad taste-" He heard Pan scoff during his reply, but continued anyway. "Besides, not only am I good looking, but they know that I'm also immensely rich."

"If you're talking about your family jewels, then forget about it Trunks, people like them aren't good for you."

"You didn't just talk about you-know-what-"

"How would I know what you think I'm talking about if you don't tell me what you're talking about?" she interrupted, holding back her laughter as she imagined him blushing out of embarrassment.

She was right too, because he did blush when she replied to his 'rich' statement. "Don't play dumb, Panny, you never were good at hiding it," Trunks replied as he buttoned the last button of his suit. "And I finished changing, so I'm going to go now. I'll see you later."

Trunks went on his knees and crawled over to where the girl lay, planted a kiss on her cheek and stood up again, looking for his briefcase and a stack of paperwork he needed. Kissing her was a normal action for Trunks to do, when the two of them prepare to go on their separate ways. He had been doing this for quite some time now, after her grandpa had left. Goku leaving was hard for Pan, and she took it hard, crying for many nights, not caring who'd see. Trunks had been a great help for her, helping her through rough days.

"I'm dead, Trunks, remember? You just kissed a dead girl."

He laughed at her response to his kiss and ruffled her hair before getting up. "Okay, I'm leaving now. You're going to be alone in my room again." He shut his bedroom door as he left, rushing to the front door of his home, to hear Bulma's yelling at him to hurry up and his sister complaining to her mother that she couldn't hear as she talked on the phone. "See you later Bra! I know, mom, I'll hurry," and he was out the door.

He stopped though, just as he closed the front door, because an arm that just happened to belong to Pan, blocked him. Confused, he looked at her smiling. "Yes?" he asked, noticing his bedroom window was wide open. _She must have gotten out from there…_

"Don't go hungry now, mister. You have a looong day ahead of you, so I brought you breakfast," she replied, holding out the bag to him.

Trunks looked down to his hands, which held his briefcase and papers. "Thanks, Pan, that's awfully sweet of you." He stepped closer to her and kissed her again on the cheek, watching her roll her eyes at him.

"Yeah, whatever." She stuffed the bagel into his mouth once he opened his mouth to say something. "Try not to choke now," she said, smiling smugly.

He tried to look annoyed, but instead appeared to be smiling. Then he gave Pan a quick one armed hug with his briefcase and ran off to work.

-

"You're late again, Trunks," Marron declared when he entered his office with a bagel in his mouth, a hand holding his briefcase and paperwork in the other. She was sitting in a desk that was in the far right side of his office, where she would file paperwork. Her legs were up on the desk, the skirt that she wore sneaking just above her knees. "I see you've missed breakfast." She put down the stack of papers she was working on. "Again," she added, a slight drawl evident in her voice.

Trunks raised an eyebrow at her as he walked to his mahogany desk to put down his briefcase. Once his hand was free, he took the bagel out of his mouth and waved it as he spoke, "Good morning to you too, Marron." He walked around his desk and sat down in his leather chair, quickly finishing his bagel. He swiveled in his chair to face her, blowing his hair that had gotten in his eyes in the process. His eyes inadvertently landed on her exposed legs, and instantly he looked away, his cheeks flushing red. He wasn't sure if Marron had noticed, but if she had, she didn't seem affected nor did she attempt to fix her skirt.

"Marron, remember what we talking about last week?" He asked her, not daring to look back as he spoke. When she didn't reply quickly, he glanced at her, wondering if she heard him.

She had heard though, or he thought she did, since their eyes met when he looked at her. As he was forcing his eyes to look just into her eyes and not anything below, she frowned at him and sighed. "Trunks," she started, playing with the pen she held in her hands. "Do you think I'm unattractive?"

_You've got to be kidding me…_ Trunks looked away and turned his chair again so that he faced the window instead. "Ms. Chestnut, I believe we've had this conversation before."

Marron sighed loudly again, but she wasn't about to give up just yet. "Yes, _Mr. Briefs_, but you didn't answer me before either."

Trunks inwardly groaned, not wanting to answer, but he knew she wouldn't let him go. It was true, he hadn't answered before, but like that time, he didn't want to now.

"You know, Trunks, its pretty obvious when you're nervous," she spoke, her voice just above a whisper. "You'd always speak formally, like we were only in a business relationship." She got up from her chair and was walking toward him, slightly swaying her hips side to side with each step she took. When she arrived in front of him, the desk between them, she spoke. "I know you're president, and I work for you, but we can have a different relationship between us. I'm not sure if you know already, but I broke up with my boyfriend recently, and now," she paused in her sentence and leaned down until she lay partly on his desk on top of some important papers. "I'm a little lonely," she finished, cocking her head to one side.

_This has got to be a nightmare… _Trunks sighed and looked away from her again, noticing the cleavage that she was showing. "Marron, you're… You're beautiful, okay? But I'm just not interested." He waited for her response as he looked at the ground near his feet, but instead, found himself looking at her shoes. He looked up and their eyes made contact.

"I just want to help you, Trunks." She put one leg behind the other and clasped her hands behind her back, leaning slightly backward. "You look lonely too."

-

Finally, after a long day from work, Trunks drove back home replaying Marron's words in his head. '_You look lonely too…'_ He didn't necessarily need a woman in his life to be happy, right? There were many 'what ifs' in Marron's conclusion. What if he really did need someone to make him happy? What if…

_Crap…_ While he was thinking this through in his head, he had taken the wrong turn, and now he was heading straight into a dead end. Just before Trunks made a U-turn, something caught his eye. There, by the mass of trees, was a house. A house for sale, that is. It was a beautiful 'mini-mansion', he decided to call it, seeing as this was the best word he could describe the house. He pulled over to the front of the house, and got out of his car, running a hand through his hair as he sighed, contemplating. What if he needed a home for himself, where he would have privacy and not have to worry about his mother barging in to his room every time he were a few minutes late for work? This was perfect! Just what he needed! This was probably why he felt incomplete; because he didn't have a place for himself! Maybe... _I'm not lonely.. I just need a change in my life, and this is probably it._ Trunks reached into his pocket, grabbed his cell phone, and dialed the number on the For Sale sign. "Hi, I'm interested in the house you're planning on selling."

* * *

A/N: Tada! I finished this chapter! lol. Please review! It makes me feel special. LOL. and it also makes me motivated to write more! I already have the next chapter, but i'm just waiting for the reviews. I really like the next chapter, just cuz it has lots of Trunks and Pan stuff happening, but anyway, please review so i'll know people actually want to read this story! 


	3. You're It Part I

Chapter 3 - You're It Part I

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Trunks smiled to himself as he drove back home after hearing the great news. The owner of the house had told him she'd been trying to sell the house for years, but no one had ever taken the exit for the house, until he showed up, because of its unnoticeable driveway. She was desperate, and had sold the house to him immediately. The owner of the house immediately showed up to the house and gave him the keys in exchange for the money. This meant he could move in whenever he wanted to, and Trunks wasn't about to waste any time at all. He was going to move in tomorrow, after he got everything packed tonight. All that was left was the paperwork, which he would do later.

He must have been excited about the house, because before he knew it, he was already home. As soon as he got inside, his mother shrieked and ran to him, hugging her son. "Trunks, you're late! Where have you been?? I called your office, but no one picked up, and I even called Pan so she'd help me find you!" Bulma released her son and put her hands on her hips. "Now you have to look for Pan! She told me she'd go look in the park you usually go to, but she still hasn't come back yet!"

Trunks raised an eyebrow at his mother, rubbing his temple as if he had a headache. "Mom, you sent Pan to look for me? I'm older than her for crying out loud! Why do I need her help to find my way back home??"

Bulma smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "I guess I got a little paranoid…"

Trunks sighed, walking up the stairs toward his bedroom. "Ok, I'll go look for her, after I pack my things."

"Pack??" Bulma turned and caught up to her son, yanking his arm to stop him. "What do you mean 'pack'??"

He chuckled nervously. He had completely forgotten to tell his mother about the house before he bought it. "Umm… Well, you see… I kind of bought a house today, which was why I was late to get home." He shut his eyes, anticipating the scream he'd hear followed by her scolding. When she didn't, he opened his eyes to see his mother crying, her hands covering her face. "Mom? What's wrong?" he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder that shook when she sobbed.

"Oh, my little boy is growing up and moving out... Time goes by so fast! I'm so happy for you, Trunks. Remember to lock the doors at night, honey, and to visit once in a while, okay?" She looked up from her hands, tears streaking down her cheeks, and smiled at him. "You go and pack now. Don't forget to drop Pan off to her home afterwards, okay?"

Trunks smiled, giving his mother one last hug. "I will, mom," he assured her, and turned, walking to his room to get packed. He noticed Bra coming out of her room, and paused, smiling briefly. "Hey there, sis. What's going on lately?"

She shrugged, looking bored and replied, "You know, the usual." Then she walked over to her brother, greeting him with a small hug. "I overheard you and mom talking. Do you want any help?"

"Sure. I could use a hand." he allowed her to enter his room and they began packing things in bags, talking to each other about random topics. The two of them were undoubtedly close, despite their different personalities. They could both trust each other with their secrets, though they shared few, and each could tell what the other was feeling. In fact, Bra was already aware of Trunks' confusion regarding his life, but she had not found anything that would help him. She tried, but everything she did wasn't any help to him at all, though he tried to convince her that there was nothing wrong with him. So, as Bra helped Trunks, she continued to think, looking for any other ways she can help, not just the packing, but a way to get rid of those lifeless eyes.

As soon as he was finished, he quickly said his goodbyes to his family and left. It wasn't hard to find Pan, as she was standing there on the sidewalk near the park, hands in her pockets, shivering in the cold. Trunks stopped his car in front of the young woman and rolled down his window, smiling apologetically. "Hey there, need a lift?" he asked, nodding over to the seat beside him.

Pan looked at him, and raised an eyebrow. "You took your sweet time, didn't ya?" She turned her head to the side and sneezed in her sleeve, sighing afterwards. Then she shrugged and walked her way to the passenger side. "But sure, I'll take up on the offer, stranger." She slid into the seat and closed the door behind her, putting on the seatbelt.

"I'm sorry I was late," Trunks started, closing the window he had opened earlier. "I was sort of busy…" He glanced at the rear view mirror and drove away, towards the Son's residence.

"Oh really? And exactly what, or should I say _who _were you doing?' she teased, earning a glare from Trunks. "Your secretary maybe? Or is it the office clerk this time?"

"Pan, don't be sick. You know I'm not like that," he replied, turning into an intersection. "I bought a house."

This took her by surprise, he noticed, since he saw her eyes widen twice its normal size. "Really? Can I see it? When are you moving? Is it far from here, or close by?" She continued questioning him, tugging on his sleeve when he didn't answer quickly enough for her.

Trunks chuckled, glancing at her for a moment. "If you want to see it, you can, Pan. Just call your parents and tell them where you are so they won't worry."

Pan immediately brightened, quickly grabbing her cell phone and punching her home phone in. "Mom? I'm with Trunks, and he's going to show me his new house, okay? I'll see you in a bit." She paused, listening to her mom's answer. "Okay, thanks mom. Love ya. Bye." She hung up and put the phone in her pocket again, and turned to smile at Trunks. "She said it was okay." Pan took off her shoes and crisscrossed her legs and turned more so that her body faced him. "Okay Trunks, now tell me. Who's living with you? Are you getting married now? Do you plan on having kids? Aren't you 30 now? Why didn't you get married sooner?"

Trunks sighed and turned into a different street. "No one's living with me Pan, and no, I'm not getting married, and yes, I do plan on having kids… _if I get married_," he quickly added, noticing Pan's horrified expression when he spoke about having children. "And I'm not exactly 30, Pan. I'm half saiyan, remember? I age slower than you, which means when I'm 50, and still stunningly hot, you'll probably be 47, instead of being 14 years younger than me."

She didn't answer right away, just continued to stare at him. _He is kinda hot… Wait… What the heck am I thinking??_ Pan shook her head, trying to get rid of her thoughts. She then noticed she still had not replied to Trunks' answer, and she quickly spoke, "So I won't be stunningly hot? Just you?" When she noticed Trunks swallow hard, she grinned.

"No," he started carefully, noticing Pan sticking out her bottom lip and pouting. "You won't be stunningly hot…" Then he turned to look at her, smiling warmly. "You'll be stunningly beautiful like always."

Trunks caught the red flushed on Pan's cheeks and smiled wider, turning his head back to look at the road. Pan put both her feet down and into her shoes, deciding she'd rather look out the window than at the driver, and crossed her arms, feeling heat rise up to her face. "Oh shut up, Trunks," she whispered, glaring daggers at his reflection in the mirror, but truthfully, she smiled inside like usual when he'd give her compliments.

He chuckled, turning into his new driveway and turned the engine off, sticking his keys into his pocket. "We're here, Panny Pan-Pan," he teased, watching as she furiously unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car.

"Would you stop calling me that??" She snapped, slamming the car door closed.

Trunks raised an eyebrow, closing the driver side door closed as well. His eyes glinted evilly, as he looked for the house keys. "Okay then, _Pan-aroony_."

"Oh, you're in for it now, mister!" she chased him as he ran to his new house, quickly opening the door and before he was able to shut the door closed behind him, she caught up. Instead, he ran around the house, avoiding the furniture, laughing as they did this. Pan was only inches behind him, almost reaching him now. After circling around in the living room a few times, he fled upstairs into the long hallway.

But then, Trunks didn't notice the small crack on the floor, and he tripped, causing Pan to trip behind him too, and he automatically turned around so he wouldn't land on his face. When Pan fell on top of him, they slid a few feet because of the newly waxed floor, and when they finally stopped, their noses bumped, both their hearts beating faster as a result. Their faces were so close together that they were exhaling into each other's mouths.

Neither of them moved, for they were still surprised by their fall. Trunks' eyes trailed down to Pan's lips, staring as if trying to memorize every detail. She noticed this, and instantly, she started to move away, that is, until he grabbed her arm, stopping her. Pan looked at him questionably, her hair slowly cascading down her face. Trunks used his free hand and touched her cheek softly, making her blush lightly. He brushed her hair away from her face, behind her ear, and gradually leaned upwards, until they were just centimeters away, like they were before. He stayed like that for a while, realizing their breathing had become rapid. Then, Trunks tilted his head to the side and kissed her cheek, barely touching the corner of her lips. He lingered there momentarily, watching as Pan's eyes hooded beneath heavy lids. He slid his head closer to her ear and murmured, "Tag, You're it," before letting his hand fall slowly, stopping just on her lower back.

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A/N: hooray! I finished writing this chapter!! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Reviews will be much appreciated:P 


	4. You're It Part II

Chapter 4 - You're It Part II

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_**A Small Review From the Last Chapter:**_

Neither of them moved, for they were still surprised by their fall. Trunks' eyes trailed down to Pan's lips, staring as if trying to memorize every detail. She noticed this, and instantly, she started to move away, that is, until he grabbed her arm, stopping her. Pan looked at him questionably, her hair slowly cascading down her face. Trunks used his free hand and touched her cheek softly, making her blush lightly. He brushed her hair away from her face, behind her ear, and gradually leaned upwards, until they were just centimeters away, like they were before. He stayed like that for a while, realizing their breathing had become rapid. Then, Trunks tilted his head to the side and kissed her cheek, barely touching the corner of her lips. He lingered there momentarily, watching as Pan's eyes hooded beneath heavy lids. He slid his head closer to her ear and murmured, "Tag, You're it," before letting his hand fall slowly, stopping just on her lower back.

-

Romantic moment? Unfortunately not… When she had opened her eyes, he was gone, and she felt the hard ground underneath her instead of his warm and firm chest.

She didn't know how he managed to get out from under her in the blink of an eye, but he did. She wasn't embarrassed, nor was she disappointed. She had gone beyond those emotions along with annoyance. Now, she was downright angry. Furious knowing that he got away, just when she reached him after he'd called her names. As she looked for him, she wondered whether she actually enjoyed the event that happened earlier in the hallway. She had, at one point in her life, become infatuated with Trunks, but that was long ago, when she was a teenager. She was older now, much more mature, and she realized that her feelings for him were no longer there. After all, she _did_ need to move on for a while; take a little break from the feeling of unrequited love. Still, he was a prepossessing sight, even if she didn't want to admit it.

She wandered down the stairs, looking in every corner and under tables. Trunks had managed to hide his ki well, which frustrated her to a great extent. _Where the heck could he be??_ Pan went on her knees and crawled, looking under the couch, but then she scoffed and mentally hit herself. _He isn't small enough to fit under there!_ Her searching continued, from closets to cabinets, though she doubted that he'd be in there.

Unexpectedly, the doorbell rang. Pan looked up from inside the cupboards, unintentionally hitting her head on the top of the shelf, and swore under her breath. She sighed and contemplated whether or not she should open the door, seeing as this was not her home, but when the doorbell rang again, she couldn't ignore it. Pan steadily walked toward the door, hoping Trunks would quit his juvenile hiding game, but there was no sign of him.

Pan reached the doorknob and briskly opened the door, smiling kindly to the guest. "Hi, may I help you?"

The man at the door had a hat that covered his eyes, and wore a rather bulky coat, despite the hot and humid weather. He attempted to speak, but just as the first syllable of a word was spoken, he coughed loudly in his hand and cleared his throat. In a deep and raspy voice, he spoke, "Is your husband home?"

Pan raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh… Seeing as I'm not married, no."

The man stepped closer to her, putting a hand around her shoulders, and smiled. "Then I guess you won't mind if I give you some company, miss," he replied, slowly pushing her inside and locking the door behind him. "I'm certain you'd find me to be _very_ entertaining." He brushed his fingers on her neck as he whispered his next words, "Won't you agree?"

He snaked an arm around her waist, and pulled her to him. Pan attempted to push him away, but instead, he let go of her and grabbed onto her hands. Then, in an instant, one of Pan's legs came up, apparently trying to knee him, but as if he were expecting this, he used one hand to hold both of her wrists, and used the other one to grab her leg.

"Violent, are we?" he breathed, smiling at her as she tried to wriggle free from his grasp. Then, he leaned closer to her and whispered, "That's how I like them," seductively in her ear.

Pan opened her mouth to speak, glancing under the couch, hoping Trunks might be there as she had forgotten about her conclusion earlier, and swallowed hard. That was when she noticed the man's scent… She stared long and hard at the part of his face that were not covered and at the hands that were now resting at her shoulders. _This was…_ She could imagine herself sweat dropping, but instead, she held her composure and smiled evilly.

"Conceited, aren't you? Why don't we go to someplace more comfortable and see whether I _enjoy_ your company or not?" She pressed herself against him and they slowly backed to the living room, the man walking backwards, unaware of where they were heading.

The man felt the couch stop him from going any farther, and he put his hands on the top of the furniture to steady himself. Then, before he could react, Pan swiftly pushed the man roughly from his shoulders and he fell backwards onto the couch. He landed with a small grunt with his legs sticking in the air, earning a burst of laughter coming from the amused girl.

Pan bent over and reached over the back of the couch to the man's hat, laughing as she did so. "Trunks, you little sneak. You're so _naïve_." She revealed the man by lifting up his hat and shook her head in mock criticism.

"_I'm _naïve??" he retorted, looking up at Pan above him. "Either you've got this reversed, or you have no idea who you're dealing with."

"Yeah? Jeez, you're _so _self-centered. What do women see in you anyway? Oh wait, I know," she continued, not allowing time for Trunks to respond. "They see a man who allow women to strip in front of them while he-"

"Where in the world do you _get_ these absurd ideas, Pan??" he interrupted, pulling his shirt down as it rose up in his position. "I mean seriously, do you just _think_ about me and inappropriate subjects, or is your mind just indecorous??"

"What the heck does 'indecorous' mean? And no, _Trunks_, I don't think about you and se-"

"No, don't say 'it'! It's a horrible lewd word that should not be used by those your age!"

"My word, what am I, _four_?" she snapped, not noticing that she was drawing closer to him as they spoke. "I can say it whenever I want! It also means 'gender', you know-"

"But you were talking about the other reason, which of course, should not be used in this household at anytime at all, and-"

"What are you, my mom?? Its not like I don't know anything about the subject, and hey, even I know that _you_ would think about things that go on in all men's heads!"

"Hey, I'll bet that you think about those things too, missy!"

"Ha! You just admitted you think about sex, _mister!_"

"Ugh, you said _the word_!! I can't look at you the same way anymore!"

"And in what way do you look at me? Nothing naughty now, right?" She eyebrows wiggled up and down in a teasing matter.

"Pan, seriously, you should learn to think before you speak. I mean really, you just keep on talking, and you probably don't even realize what you just said that was so inappropriate! If you father was here, he'd-"

"Not like the fact that we're alone together, and would send you all the way to HFIL."

"Why would I go to HFIL? I'm no villain!"

"Yes you are, you evil president. You're going to attempt to take over the world, and we can't have that."

"Whatever Pan. Only _you_ think I shouldn't take over the world, but I bet a bunch of other women wouldn't mind if I did-"

"Only because they're dumb air-headed bimbos who have no education at all!"

He shook his head angrily and leaned up with his elbows on the couch to hold him up. "Not all of them are stupid, but I guess it only takes someone just as…" he trailed off, catching his mistake, but she too, caught on to what he was about to say. Before he could quickly cover up his mistake, she spoke.

"It only takes someone just as stupid to think that, huh?" she whispered, forcing a smile as she looked at him. "I guess I can't say anything about that, seeing as I'm no genius like my father." She slowly pulled herself up from her leaning position, but was stopped when Trunks grabbed on to her wrist.

Their eyes made contact and no matter how much Pan tried; she couldn't bring herself to look away. What was that there she saw? Guilt? But Pan saw something more than that in his eyes. It was more of sadness. Was that ever there before? She hadn't really noticed it today until now. She only noticed when she saw pictures of him from magazines, photos, and on posters scattered around the area.

"Pan." His voice drew her out of her thoughts.

She tried to pull her wrists free from his grasp, but his grip was firm. "What?"

"I didn't mean to call you that. There's nothing wrong with you," he continued, his voice barely above a whisper. "Because to me, you're perfect."

Pan looked away, fighting off the blush that was about to form on her face. "Whatever, Trunks."

He smiled, knowing that she had forgiven him, despite her response. "Now come here and give me a hug," he said, trying to pull her over the couch. She laughed, and shook her head, pulling back so she wouldn't go over.

"I don't wanna give you a hug," she giggled, sliding on the floor as her socks made the hardwood floor slippery. "Let me go, or I'll…"

He chuckled, pulling her harder. "Or you'll what? Hit me?" But he didn't let go. Instead, he jerked on his last tug, and she suddenly was off the ground, over the back of the couch and lying on top of him, her feet sticking in the air as was his.

Pan drew in a breath when he touched her bare waist unintentionally when her shirt had risen from her fall. His hand immediately withdrew, and he blushed, mumbling a quick apology as he did so. Pan didn't frown, nor did she blush. She just stared blankly at him and slowly put her hands on either side of his head. None of them noticed that they were sliding down off the couch, until they both fell on the floor, Trunks first.

"Oww," He groaned, rubbing his head, closing his eyes as he tried to rid of the stars that were showing in his mind. Though his body was numb, Pan was in fine shape, as she had fell on top of him and not the hardwood floor. Instead of complaining about the pain since she had none, she burst out laughing, tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

"Trunks, you're such an idiot!" she managed to say between laughs, only to earn a small 'shut up' from the man beneath her. She continued to laugh, enjoying the fact that he looked funny to her from below her. After a moment, her laughter subsided, and she just watched as the man under her continued to rub the back of his head. She slowly put her arms on either side of his head, and then unlocked her elbow joint so that the lower part of her arm was on the ground, supporting her. They were close to each other now, and Trunks seemed to sense that as he quickly opened his eyes and stopped feeling the bump that had formed on his head from his fall.

Then, just as slowly, she bent her head down and gently knocked her forehead to his. She leaned even farther and moving her head toward her right, she gingerly brushed her lips against his left cheek, the same spot where he'd kiss her.

The instant she'd kissed him, she felt one of his hands grab her arm in a gentle manner. She lifted her head but couldn't bring herself to look at him. Instead, she whispered, "Guess what?"

"What?" he spoke, his voice just above a whisper.

She smiled briefly and murmured; "Now you're it."

* * *

A/N: Ah yes, harmless flirting between Trunks and Pan. Don't you just love them? lol. Oh yeah, sorry you guys.. I am aware that I make my chapters short, but I thought that this would be a good stopping point. But I have no idea what should happen next, so… it might take a while unless I get inspired somehow…Please review! 


	5. Yogurt

Chapter 5 - Yogurt

* * *

He woke up unusually early today, even before Pan arrived at her usual hour. This was odd because yesterday, when he'd dropped Pan off at her home after he had let her help him unpack his belongings it had been almost two o'clock in the morning. He smiled, remembering the events that followed through that night. For the first time, Pan had kissed him on the cheek. She usually wouldn't do so, as she told him that she felt it awkward to do such a thing. Once she had kissed him though, she disappeared like he had and he had to go search for her in his new home. He figured she'd run because of embarrassment, but once he finally found her, she was back to her normal self; cheerful and crazy as one could be. Then, she'd asked if she could stay awhile and help him unpack, and he agreed, accepting the help immediately.

Now, it was half past four a.m., half an hour before he'd awaken by Pan's noisy ways. Shrugging this off, he got out of bed and stretched, groaning as he heard the joints on his arms crack. Then he sleepily staggered to the bathroom in his room and turned the sink faucet on, filling his cup up with cold water and squeezing out what's left of the toothpaste in the nearly empty tube onto his toothbrush. Once he was finished, he dumped the remaining water left in his cup to the sink and walked to the shower. He undressed and stepped into the shower, feeling the sleepiness in him leave him as the warm water ran down his body.

Fifteen minutes later, he stepped out of the shower and with a towel wrapped around his waist, he proceeded out the bathroom and into his room. Though he was the only one in the house, he closed his room door out of habit and searched in his closet for his business suit. The moment he found his suit, he glanced at the clock. It read five a.m., the time when Pan would usually invade his privacy. Trunks loosely put on his tie, letting it dangle in front of him as he grabbed his briefcase and headed down the stairs. When he entered the kitchen, he set his briefcase down on the floor by the table, paused, and groaned. He had forgotten to bring food into his home. Now, he was forced to starve as he worked in his office with a woman who flirts with him every ten minutes. Great… Just what he needed…

"Aw, something wrong, Trunks?"

He spun around and was face to face with Pan, who had a spoon in her mouth and a half full cup of strawberry yogurt in her hand. He noticed that she had on a casual white skirt and a maroon t-shirt on, and before he could stop himself, he spoke, "You look beautiful, Panny."

She hadn't expected the compliment, and immediately blushed, looking away, and mumbled a quiet, "Shut up. I forgot to do my laundry yesterday, okay?"

Trunks smiled and ruffled her hair, earning a 'humph' of annoyance from the girl. "It was a compliment, Pan, not an insult."

"Yeah? Well, I didn't like your choice of words, mister," she replied, swatting his hand away and fixed her hair with her free hand.

His eyes glinted as he raised an eyebrow. "How about," he responded, watching her as she blew a piece of hair that fell out of place, "Drop-dead gorgeous? Better?"

Pan nearly gagged on the yogurt she had just spooned into her mouth. "Trunks," she yelled, her blush growing a deeper red as she tried her best to look angry. "You're such a … a…"

"A what?" he interjected, watching as Pan looked for words to say.

"An adulating jerk," she finished, pulling the spoon out of her mouth and putting it back into the cup of yogurt. "That's what you are."

Before he was able to reply, his stomach growled in hunger, and he immediately brought his hands up to it.

Pan noticed and she smiled, spooning in more of her yogurt into her mouth. "Hungry, Mr. Briefs?"

He nodded sheepishly, and Pan immediately brightened, forgetting completely about her resentment toward him a second ago. "Want some?" she asked, holding out the yogurt container with her spoon set inside it. Before she let him answer her, she quickly brought her hand back, giggling as a look of disappointment crossed his features. "Sorry mister, I licked it," she said, taking the spoon out of the container and popping it into her mouth.

He stepped closer to her and grabbed the spoon out of her mouth. "So?" he scooped a heaping spoonful of yogurt and put it into his mouth, enjoying the sweet strawberry taste.

"Trunks," she whined, reaching for her spoon. "You're eating my breakfast!" She wasn't able to snatch her spoon though, because he took the spoon out of his mouth and lifted his arm up and behind him from her reach. Still, she wanted it back. Pan grabbed onto the front of his business suit and reached, extending her arm out towards his. Though they didn't fall, their bodies leaned; hers forward, and his backwards. Exasperated, she sighed and stood on the tip of her toes. "You're going to be late again, Trunks, if you don't give me back my spoon!"

He looked at the clock hanging on the wall behind Pan, and laughed. "No I wont, I have plenty of time."

"Not if I spill this on you," Pan challenged, waving the container of yogurt in front of his face.

"You wouldn't," he warned, as she slightly tilted the container toward him.

"Oh, I would," she replied, smiling evilly as she continued to tilt it, watching as Trunks stared at the yogurt following the slant. "Now, hand over the spoon, and no one gets yogurt-ed," she ordered.

"That's not even a word."

"So?"

He frowned, keeping the spoon in the air away from her and said, "If you spill that on me, I'll-" It was already too late. Before he was even able to finish his sentence, he felt the cold, thick and sticky food seep through his business suit and on his chest. His mouth was wide open in shock, disbelief written all over his face. "You didn't…"

"I did," she replied, patting the spot where the yogurt spilled on his shirt.

"Pan..."

"Yes, Trunks?" she asked innocently, tilting her head to the side and batting her eyelashes.

That was when Trunks scooped up what was on his shirt and threw it toward her, but she had ducked, and the handful of yogurt splattered on his window. Pan quickly crawled away, toward the exit of his home and shouted behind her, "Now you're _really_ going to be late!"

Trunks glanced at the clock and confirmed what she had just said, quickly getting a napkin and wiping off as much of the yogurt off his business suit as he can, grabbed his briefcase, and ran to the door, feeling his cell phone vibrate in his pocket as he ran. He knew it was his mother though, and knowing this, he didn't answer the phone. Instead, he ran quicker, hoping he wouldn't get in as much trouble as he had the day before.

"Trunks," Pan called, stopping him just as he stepped foot on the front porch where she waited.

He quickly stopped and looked over his shoulder before rushing back to her. "If you're going to apologize for what you've done, I have no intention of forgiving-"

His sentence trailed off when Pan handed him a small brown lunch bag. His eyes widened and he smiled a big smile, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a tight hug. "You're forgiven," he said as he spun her around a couple of times, Pan shrieking as he did so, and once he let go, he pecked her on the cheek and was handed the bag. "You know, Pan, you shouldn't make this a habit. I just might fall in love with you," he added jokingly, receiving another blush from her that day. Then, he was off, briefcase in one hand, and the small brown bag in the other.

-

"For the millionth time, Trunks, you're late."

Trunks closed the mahogany double doors behind him, smiling apologetically at the blonde sitting in her seat behind her desk. "Sorry about that. I had a little accident back home," he replied, referring to the strawberry yogurt spill on his suit.

She didn't respond to his apology, only filing paperwork quietly in the drawers. Once she was finished, she looked up from where she worked to Trunks, who was sitting on his own chair, eating as he signed papers. He was happy today, Marron noted, watching as he stared at the tip of the pen he was holding, then scribbling on a yellow post-it note and then threw it away, deciding there was no ink left in that over-used pen.

"What are you eating?" she asked as he got out a new writing tool.

"Yogurt," he answered, looking up and receiving eye contact with her. "Want some?"

She quickly shook her head, her hand automatically coming up to her stomach as she declined. Then, as if she noticed her movement, she briskly pretended to work, grabbing a stack of papers and straightening them.

"You're not anywhere near fat, Marron," Trunks spoke. He had noticed where her hand had come to, and knew very well why she declined so quickly. "Have some." He motioned her to come to him, pushing what was left of his breakfast to the edge of his desk toward her.

"Who gave you that, Trunks?" she asked ignoring his reply and waving off his offer with a wave of a hand and a curt shake of her head. "You usually don't have time to make breakfast, let alone come to work on time."

Trunks smiled briefly, and grabbed the container of yogurt that Marron declined to have. He spooned in some in his mouth and replied, "Pan did," as he threw away the container after he had finished, along with the spoon.

"Aren't you guys fourteen years apart?" she asked, crossing her legs in the process.

He nodded slowly, uncertain where her questioning was leading. "Yes… Though technically our age difference is less because of our saiyan blood… Why?"

Marron sighed, realizing this wasn't getting anywhere. She thought for a moment, and then rephrased her question. "Okay Trunks, because of the fact that you're a man and men are dense when it comes to women, I'll ask you this differently." She uncrossed her legs and leaned to her desk, resting her arms on the surface and continued, "Are you single?"

"Ms. Chestnut, I-"

"Oh come on, Trunks, not with the formal talk again! We've known each other for such a long time so don't give me the 'Ms. Chestnut' crap," she interrupted.

Trunks stared at her for a long time, not sure if he were feeling angry or just plain shocked at her sudden outburst. Then, he cleared his throat, leaning back into his leather chair and replied, "We _are_ at work, Marron. I would think this is a topic to be avoided, as it is inappropriate and non-business related at all."

"Trunks, seriously, just answer the question. It's not like this conversation's going to take hours," she spoke stubbornly.

He sighed, giving in, and nodded. "Yes, I'm still single."

"And are you going to make a move with someone soon?"

He paused, raising an eyebrow at her, confused, and looked away from her. "No," he spoke quietly.

Marron could tell he did not want to add on to this, but she persisted to question him. After all, it seemed like he was uncomfortable with the topic and being the president of Capsule Corporation, he should be used to being in these situations. His love life seemed nonexistent, and maybe that's what's bothering him these days. But what she didn't get was why he wouldn't look so depressed when he had just spoken to Pan, or when he's with her. It was strange how he'd look normal and carefree when the girl was around.

"Trunks," Marron continued, "Are you in love with someone?"

He looked at her as if she were out of her mind, and shook his head firmly. "We shouldn't be talking about this, Ms. Chestnut. We have work to finish, and I highly doubt that you would stop questioning me and my love life if I answer your never ending questions."

Marron scoffed, leaning up from her desk and grabbing a new stack of paperwork. "Fine, _Mr. Briefs_." She swiveled in her chair and opened the file cabinet. "But of course you wouldn't admit your feelings, as you _are _the heartthrob Trunks who doesn't realize his best friend had been in love with you," she mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" Trunks picked up on a few words, it being 'of course', 'feelings', 'heartthrob', and 'in love', though he wasn't able to put them in a sentence that made sense to him. When she replied with an abrupt 'nothing', he became interested to have the conversation he had been avoiding. "Marron, what were you saying?"

She turned to look at him. "Oh, so I'm _Marron_ now?"

He sighed. Women… He just didn't know how to handle them… He apologized to her and they began to work in silence, neither saying anything else to each other the rest of that day.

* * *

A/N: Heh, my inspiration was yogurt… lol. anyway, thank you guys SO much for the reviews!! I'd have to say that your reviews give me more inspiration than yogurt:P Well, of course they do, but I just have to say that cuz… I'm glad that people like my story… I had a dream recently, and I really think it can go well into the story too, but in later chapters… so yup, I'm intending to finish this story, no matter how long it takes, even if I don't have a laptop to work with! (Its going to be taken away from me… and I'm keeping my story a secret, so .. shhh! haha). Its going to be a little tough for me to sneak chapters in on my family computer, but I'm gonna do it! 

oh yeah, and that 'written by a professional' comment was really touching! I mean REALLY touching. lol. my older sister tells me I suck at writing.. so it means a lot to me. Thanks so much for the reviews!

-

Another thing to add… If you see any errors, I apologize.. I didn't proof read it well. lol. I just kinda skimmed it... And yeah, I put cliffhangers hehe. They're fun for me. I like the reactions of people when they go "NO, not ANOTHER cliffhanger" lol. jk. Usually whenever i put cliffhangers, they're cuz I can't think of anything to write at the moment. :P


	6. The Promise

Chapter 6 - The Promise

* * *

Trunks' long day of work seemed prolonged because of the lack of conversation he usually had with Marron, like 'Did Mr. Yamada sign the contract he received the day before?' and other important questions. Instead of inquiring business related questions, he had to dig in his file cabinets and look for the actual contract. What made this harder was the fact that the contract wasn't even there, and he had to look in his input box, which had piles of paperwork waiting to be put into files. With Trunks' horrible luck though, the contract was at the end of the stack, and he had wasted much time searching for the answer to a simple yes or no question he could have asked Marron. She was, after all, doing nothing extremely important, but filing papers. She even had time to answer her personal cell phone, and go out for lunch. When she had come back though, there was a different atmosphere between them. She looked a little depressed, but Trunks figured it was because her lunch break had ended. Anyone would be depressed about that.

Still, there was something that was odd. She wasn't flirting with him like usual, and this had to mean something was up. Either something changed her, or she was scheming. When he looked at her, she didn't seem to notice, or was aware of his staring. Her hazel eyes were clouded over, and appeared to be a little grey. He decided to not bother her, as he was sure that she was still annoyed with him.

The minute his day at the office ended, he couldn't wait to go home and relax. As he loaded his briefcase with paperwork that he intended to sign at the comfort of his home, Marron walked to him, a frown planted on her face. Her eyes even looked a little red, like she had been crying.

"Trunks," she started, her voice seemingly calm. "I apologize for my inappropriate behavior earlier."

He closed his briefcase and made eye contact with her. She seemed so unhappy that he felt sympathy for the woman. "It's alright, Marron," he spoke, smiling at her. "Besides, you're right. We should be able to talk to each other about non-business issues once in a while together. We don't get to see each other often outside of work anyway."

She paused a moment as if hesitant to speak. Finally, she said, "We've been friends for a while, right?"

"Of course," he replied

"Can we talk for a bit?" she whispered hesitantly. Trunks' eyes trailed down to the briefcase in his hands, which signified his want to leave. Of course, he hadn't meant that he did not want to speak with her, but she took it the wrong way.

"Never mind, Trunks. It's not that important anyway. You can go home now."

"No, Marron, that's not it," he spoke quickly. "Why don't we go to my place and talk there?"

Marron closed her eyes as tears ran down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away; holding back sobs the best she could, but with little avail. "No, I'm – I'm sorry. I should leave." She turned away, and quickly walked to the door, but Trunks grabbed her hand.

"Marron, I love you. You're one of my best friends, and I can tell that something's wrong." He turned her around so he could look at her. "Tell me what's wrong," he spoke gently.

Marron broke down, sobbing and she went up to him, burying her face in his business suit. "Trunks," She gripped his shirt and cried, not caring about her reputation at this point. "I hate myself so much. They didn't even appreciate me and it was because I wasn't good enough for them. I just wasn't…" she couldn't continue, as her sobs took over.

He didn't know what to say. He had no idea what was happening to her, and this made him hate himself for that. Why did he not know about this? They've been friends for a long time, yet he hadn't suspected anything wrong with Marron until today after she had answered her cell and went out for lunch. 'They' must be her past boyfriends, Trunks thought as he watched her bury her face in her hands. Though they weren't really 'best friends', he felt like he should put more effort in their friendship and build it up.

"Marron, let's talk at my place," he finally said, grabbing his briefcase. He had noticed when one of his employees peeked through the window of the hallway to them. He usually kept that window closed as people would usually poke their head through every now and then, but today, he decided to keep it open. He put his arms around her shoulders and they exited his office. They dodged their co-workers and the news press as they took the stairs instead of the elevator. Once they were outside, he led her to his home, which were just a few blocks from Capsule Corporation. He found his house key and shoved it in the lock, twisting it open. Closing the door behind them, he led her to his couch and they sat down.

"Would you like anything to drink?" he offered, but she shook her head. He rested his elbows on his knees and waited for her to speak.

After a while, Marron spoke again, her voice shaky and just above a whisper. "I hate myself," she repeated, her body shaking uncontrollably. "I'm just some darn _prostitute_ that has no reason to live but to date men who're just using me for _sex_."

When she had spoken her last word, his mind instantly remembered the conversation he had with Pan and though he knew that this wasn't the time to be reminiscing, he couldn't help it.

"Marron," Trunks said, bringing an arm around her shoulders and rubbing small circles on her back. There was nothing he could say to her at them moment. No comforting words to soothe her. The only thing he could do was to listen.

"Today, during lunch, I found out that _he _was s-secretly married and I-" she shook her head, sobs escaping again.

"You didn't know, Marron. It's not your fault."

"Shouldn't I have though? I'm such an idiot. There were hints all over the place, but I was too blind to notice, because _he_ kept on telling me how beautiful I was, and how I'm so perfect and that he's so lucky to have me." Marron pulled back from their embrace and looked away from him, wiping her tears away.

"Who ever you marry one day _is_ lucky to have you. That man you call your recent ex; he doesn't deserve you at all." Trunks brought her closer and gently knocked their heads together. "And you _are_ beautiful," he murmured.

Marron managed a small smile, pulling back a little. Then she frowned, sighing. "It doesn't matter Trunks. Even if you say that I'll find someone, will that really come true? I'm so jealous of what other people have – what _you_ have."

"What do I have?" he whispered, staring at the floor.

"You're in love with someone who's likely to be perfect for you." She looked at him, but their eyes didn't meet. "Aren't you?"

Trunks closed his eyes. "What are you talking about?" He sighed. "I'm not… I'm not in love with anyone, Marron. Why would you think that?"

"You look so happy sometimes, and-" she didn't finish her sentence when Trunks opened his eyes and their eyes met. There was something about them she couldn't figure out. Just this morning, his eyes looked so… _alive_. Yet right now, they were exactly the opposite.

He laughed dryly. "Yeah… '_Sometimes'_ is the key-word here."

"What is it?"

Trunks leaned back against the couch, his arms supporting his head. "I don't really know. But do you know what the funny thing is? I thought buying his house would make a significant change in my mood, but it doesn't. It just give me more privacy, which I like," he added, staring at the painting on the wall in front of them. "It just doesn't make that much of a difference to whether I'm content…." He trailed off, wondering when he had put that painting there.

"Trunks?" She looked at him questionably then to what he was staring at.

_When did I put that up there?_ He thought, but he quickly waved it off, noticing the blonde beside him stare. "It's nothing," he said.

She smiled, though there were still tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered, and when he looked at her in confusion, she continued. "I was such a promiscuous person these past couple of weeks. I know I shouldn't have been doing things that I've done in the past, and I have no excuse, but-"

"It's alright, Marron. It's in the past now. Let's just forget about that, okay?" He sat up and grinned. "Sometimes we just have our days, don't we?"

This made her laugh, and he watched as she started cheering up, her face brightening as time went on. She really did look beautiful. Especially when she smiled. He had nearly forgotten how she looked when she smiled truthfully, and not flirty like she had been smiling when she had been dating other men. He didn't notice when he leaned up to her, pushing her blonde locks away from her face with his hand, until they were nearly inches away.

Her hand automatically grabbed his that was on her face. "Trunks? We're friends, right? J-just friends?"

"Yeah," he murmured, and just before his lips touched hers, she pulled away.

"Wait… There's something I need to tell you first," she breathed, her heartbeat becoming faster as she felt his exhales down her neck. She tried not to cry again, though she didn't even know why she felt the need to shed more tears. "I'm… I think…"

Marron couldn't hold back anymore. She felt tears fall from her cheeks, and she had to look away as she wept, bringing her other hand that didn't hold Trunks', to wipe her tears, but he beat her to it.

"Why are you like this, Trunks? Why are you so understanding? I just can't… I…" Her teary eyes met his and she saw him lean closer to her, closing his eyes as he did so.

"I can't stop myself from falling in love with you," she spoke quietly.

Their noses touched, and Trunks' eyes reopened when she confessed, their eyes meeting contact again. He smiled briefly, though it didn't last for more than a second and it appeared to be a sad one. "I already knew," he whispered, and he closed the space between them, moving his lips against hers in a way that clouded her thoughts.

He pressed his body against hers and they slowly fell back, Marron's head resting on the armrest of the couch. He was granted entrance in her mouth with his tongue, and as they kissed passionately, nothing could be heard, except for the quiet sound of their lips coming in contact with each other. In Trunks' mind, many thoughts were going through his head. Though he had never had a serious girlfriend he kissed like the way he was kissing Marron right now, he couldn't take his mind off of something, not to mention someone.

"Kami, not now."

She gently pushed him back from his shoulders, and they opened their eyes to look at each other.

_Did I say that out loud?_ He confirmed that he had when Marron questioned him. He shook his head. "I'm sorry. It's… Nothing," he spoke, but when he leaned back down to kiss her, in hopes that she'd forget about it, she stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. It was then that it seemed like she realized where they were, and what position they were in. She looked at how close they were to each other, and how his body was on top of hers. Trunks felt her instantly scoot back from him, and he sat up, bringing his hand to his lips, wiping off the moisture he felt.

Marron slide further from him until she sat on the armrest, her lips were red from their kiss and her breathing rapid. Her face was flushed, though when she looked at him, there was no embarrassment evident in her eyes. "I… Um… I need to leave," she said, swiftly turning around and quickly walking toward the door.

"Marron, wait." Trunks caught her as she had a hand on the doorknob. He grabbed her arm, but she wriggled free, her face hidden as she looked away from him. Faint sniffles from her could be heard, but he couldn't be sure she was weeping, that is, until her shoulders started shaking. He put a hand on her shoulder, and was about to speak, until Marron pushed his arm away from her.

"You shouldn't…" she paused, letting a small sob escape her lips. "Let's forget about this. You're… I don't deserve you, okay?"

He whispered her name, bringing his hand to her face to make her look at him, but she shook her head again, and he retreated. She wiped away her tears, and slowly looked up to meet his eyes.

"Kami, I don't deserve you at all. I… I'm changing my ways, but I'm far from perfect. You shouldn't be waiting for me," she spoke shakily.

He slowly walked near to her and gave her a sad smile. "I'm not perfect either, Marron. No one is, and though you say you're far from perfect," he paused, staring long and hard at her face, his blue eyes sparkling as his smile grew wider, then disappearing as he continued. "That's what I find extremely attractive about you."

She forced herself to keep eye contact with him and whispered, "Please don't hurt me, Trunks. I can't… I can't take in any more pain."

He continued to step closer to her, hesitantly bringing his hands near her. When she didn't protest or move away, he gently placed them on her arms. "I won't hurt you. I promise." Then he let go of one of her arms and brought his hand to her chin, tilting her head up. He leaned close to her. "But the truth is, I don't think I deserve _you_," he whispered, before capturing her lips with his.

* * *

A/N: Um… Did I mistakenly switch Pan's name with Marron's? Nope! lol. Don't worry, its still a T/P. This is just the start of something dramatic to come… I hope… I have lots of plans for the coming chapters, so yeah. Oh, and as you can see, I don't hate Marron that much, so I gave her a sad story. lol. I used to make her as the mean, horrible woman, who tries to steal Trunks away from Pan, or as the annoying ditzy person everyone hates, but somehow, I have come to make things realistic. 

And yup, in the chapter before this one, I was a little hungry, and so I opened my refrigerator, and spotted strawberry yogurt. So somehow, as I was contemplating whether I should eat it or not, I got inspired! lol.

Update the next day after I posted another chapter? uhh… hehe, yah, I don't think that's possible for me. :P

Anyway, Pan is in the next chapter! Please review!


	7. Hit Me A Thousand Times

Chapter 7 - Hit Me A Thousand Times

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Some one's in here. He could tell.

Trunks had just dropped Marron off at her home, being the gentleman he was. He wasn't planning to have her spend the night. That was far from his intentions when he had kissed her as she was leaving. He also knew that she wouldn't have wanted to stay with him for the night too. Marron just wasn't like that. He knew her better than those men she had dated that thought she was an easy catch, though she sometimes acted like one. He had come straight home after dropping her off, no kiss goodbye, just a small hug.

After he closed the front door of his home behind him, he heard whispering upstairs. Quickly stepping out of his shoes, he undid his tie as he slowly crept up the stairs. He made wide steps as to avoid the creaky floor as much as possible. He hid his ki as he neared, listening to soft sniffles. The intruder was in his room, he confirmed, noticing light from the small gap under the closed door. He put an ear to the door as he listened to the soft whimpers.

"-Still in love with him…"

_Dang…_ He had missed half of the sentence. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. That voice was Pan's! He opened the door, and found Pan sitting on his bed with her legs crossed, facing the television. She yelped in surprise, jumping off the bed instantly. Pan's legs didn't seem to work as she dropped to the floor, falling on her side.

Okay… Maybe she fell off his bed. Trunks was by her side immediately on his knees, gently grabbing her arm and pulling her up.

"Trunks, you scared me, you jerk!"

"You're welcome, Pan," he said sarcastically, watching as she dusted herself off. Then he saw a tear trickle down her cheek. He felt his heart skip a beat as if he could feel her sadness. He brought his hand to her face, though she didn't seem to notice until he brushed her hair out of the way to get a better view of her.

Pan instantly jumped back, but there was no room left for her to back up to, and she hit her back against the wooden bed frame. She winced in pain, rubbing the sore spot she was sure a bruise would show in a couple of hours. Then she sniffled and when she did, she realized what Trunks had been trying to do. She quickly brought her hand to her cheek, wiping away her tears. She laughed nervously, smiling at him, but with her eyes filled with tears, her smile appeared to be forced.

"It's not what you think," she told him, gripping the tissues she had in her hand.

"Do you know what I think?" he asked, bringing a hand to her face again. This time, she let him touch her. He brushed his fingers against her cheeks, which were slightly tinted with pink.

"Uh… Good point," she grabbed his hand and slowly brought it down, away from her face. Then she let go, leisurely learning back against the bed frame that had given her the bruise. "I was watching television up here."

He smiled. "Well yeah, I could see that," he replied, glancing at the entertainment system that was still on. "But that doesn't explain why-"

She interrupted him, as if embarrassed he had caught her crying in his bedroom and didn't want to be reminded. "Okay, okay," she spoke, pushing herself off the bed frame and spreading her feet out, her legs on either side of him. "I was watching a soap opera. _Happy_?" she finished exasperatedly.

Trunks laughed, grabbing her ankles with both his hand and pulling her closer to him that way. She slid to him, and stopped when he thought they were close enough. "I wasn't aware you liked those kinds of programs."

"Yeah? Well, I do. And I was depressed because 'What's-her-face' cheated on her boyfriend with her ex, and…" she didn't finish her sentence however. Instead, her tears got watery again, and she was forced to look away, wiping her eyes in the process.

"Pan?" he leaned over, in attempt to help her wipe her tears again, but she dodged him.

She laughed sadly, turning around and getting up from the floor. "I already explained to you why I was crying, Trunks. Jeez, don't be s-so… Paranoid." She saw him get up, and continued. "You just forced me to remember what happened to "What's-her-face's' husband, and even though the show ended, I still think it's sad." She laughed again, heading out of Trunks' room. "I better get going, Trunks. I'll see you sometime."

"Wait," he called, following her. "Why don't you stay for a while? I could use some company at…" He looked at his wristwatch. "8:00 p.m."

Pan shook her head and declined again, walking down the stairs and near the front door. "You're busy with your company and … life, so I um… I should leave."

"But-"

She turned around after placing a hand on the doorknob and leaned up to him, interrupting his sentence with a soft kiss on the cheek. "Bye," she said quietly after she broke the quick contact.

Before she was able to fully turn around and leave, he grabbed her shoulder. Pan tensed up instantly, and he was able to feel that right away. He gently turned her around and looked into her eyes. "Are you trying to avoid me?"

She laughed as if he said something ridiculous. "Of course not, Trunks. You're my best friend."

"Why?"

She raised an eyebrow, confused. "Uh… I don't know why you're my best friend… Maybe it has something to do with-"

He interrupted her, a look of seriousness on his features. "Come on Pan, don't play dumb." He sighed, his eyes trailing down to their feet. "Why are you avoiding me?"

Pan shook her head, shrugging off his hand on her shoulder. "I'm not. I'm simply heading home because of the current hour."

"You always stay later than this," he retorted, watching her as she pondered an answer for his statement.

"Trunks, I just don't feel like staying here right now, okay?"

"What did I do?" he whispered, placing his hand on hers that were on the doorknob gently, but like he had predicted, she quickly pulled her hand from under his. "Why does it seem like you're afraid of me?" He stepped closer, and she stepped away from him, until her back pressed against the wall behind her.

"I'm not. I'm just..." She closed her eyes as she felt her legs shake beneath her, and her vision blurred. Her body betrayed her as she felt herself allow him to pull her to him, but she shook her head again. "I don't want to talk about it."

His arms slowly wrapped around her small, frail body. "You can tell me, can't you?" he asked, and Pan had to cringe hearing that, knowing very well that he was the last person she'd want to talk to him about her problems. Trunks seemed to sense this as he slowly let go to have eye contact with the girl.

His ocean blue eyes made it hard for her to want to look away, but she managed to anyway, as she saw the many emotions in the waves of blue of his iris. "It's not important anyway. You wouldn't want to know," she replied. She heard him sigh, and she couldn't resist looking at him.

"I want to know, Pan, and if it's not important, it's okay, because I like talking to you. But I don't think you want to tell me, do you?" When she didn't answer, he looked away. "Why not?"

Still, she didn't answer him, and he wondered whether she was even paying attention, until he noticed her quickly bring a hand to her eyes. She wiped away a tear and softly sniffled, then, before he even realized she had brushed beside him and opened the front door, she closed it behind her.

He wouldn't leave this situation at that though. Trunks was too stubborn for that. He quickly grabbed his keys and followed her, accidentally slamming the door shut as he quickly fumbled with the set of keys he had in one ring. Once he locked the door, he searched for her ki and ran toward it, noticing that she was running too. It wasn't long before he saw her figure before him and he quickened his pace until he was near her. He almost reached her, but then unexpectedly, she stopped, and he collided to her, sending them both crashing to the hard pavement.

"Kami," he cursed, rubbing the back of his head. He opened an eye to glare accusingly at her, only to find her matching his glare. "Why the heck did you suddenly stop??"

Pan drew in a ragged breath and stood up, brushing her pant legs as it was covered with dirt. She noticed him stand up as well, but it didn't faze her. "Leave me alone, Trunks," she spoke coldly, that it sent shivers down Trunks' spine. She didn't seem to notice though, because she had already turned her back to him, attempting to walk away, but was stopped when a hand grabbed her arm roughly. She felt him pull her arm, forcing her to turn and meet his intense stare, though before he was able to say anything, she brought a hand up and slapped him across the face hard. He didn't let go, however. Instead, he gripped her arm harder, not moving from his current position. His head was turned still from her slap, and his cheek felt slightly numb. After regaining his composure, Trunks slowly turned to Pan to meet her eyes, knowing very well that his left cheek was tinted red.

"I'd rather have you hit me a thousand times than slap me once," he whispered, loosening his grip on her arm, and then letting his hand fall to his side.

* * *

Sorry you guys, I know it's shorter than my other chapters, and I updated this um... not quickly. lol. But like i said, i have writers block, and well.. I have no idea what should happen next... Oh yeah, sorry about the kiss between Trunks and Marron in the previous chapter. lol. I thought it was necessary so i added that. Please review!! ... Oh, and suggestions are welcome! 


	8. If You Love Me Too

Chapter 8 - If You Love Me Too

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Her fingers were still stinging from the impact. Pan didn't feel like running just yet. She could, seeing as Trunks had let go of her, but she felt as though she needed to stay. He had hurt her, though she didn't want to admit it or explain anything to him. Clouds were approaching, and both could tell it was going to rain soon, but neither of them moved. Trunks wanted an answer, and Pan was going to give him one, even if he had to stay with her all night.

"Please leave me alone, Trunks," she spoke through gritted teeth, her body shaking uncontrollably. She blinked back tears, hoping this would stop those that were daring to glide down her face from the corner of her eyes. Pan sniffled and attempted to glare at the man in front of her, but somehow, with the pained expression he held in his eyes, more tears formed instead, causing a stream of tears to fall. She saw Trunks' hand rise, and she flinched and closed her eyes, assuming he was going to hit her. She didn't feel physical pain though. All she felt was a cold hand brushing tears from her face. Alarmed, her eyes instantly opened and with all the strength she could muster, she shoved him.

Trunks didn't expect this; neither did Pan, for that matter, and he grabbed whatever was close to him to prevent him from falling: Pan's arm. They both fell on the pavement again, with Pan on top of Trunks. Pan quickly pushed herself from the ground, only to feel excruciating pain on her hands, and she fell back on him. She supported her upper body with her forearm that held her above the ground and slightly above Trunks, while she examined her hand. She faced it palm up and found a deep gash dripping away with blood. She must have gotten this when she tried to stop her fall. Then, she felt a raindrop fall on her head. Then another and she looked up to notice it was pouring hard. She wasn't distracted by the rain though because of the pain she felt in both hands. There was another problem: she was still on top of Trunks. Pan started to move away, but was stopped when Trunks grabbed her wrist; the one she was examining before. He stared at her wound for a moment, then at her.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, slowly letting go of her wrist. "I didn't mean to cause this."

Pan shook her head, tears running down her cheeks again. "Why? Why are you apologizing?" She spoke louder after each word as her vision blurred. "_I_ hurt you, Trunks, you should b-be angry at me. P-please," she felt him move under her, until he sat up, bringing her up also. "Please hate me," she whispered, sobbing into his shirt that was soaked by the rain.

He didn't answer though. He only strengthened his hold on her, keeping her in a warm embrace that meant more to her than he realized. The bottoms of his forearms were bleeding too, when he had landed and slid on the pavement, but all he could feel was the tug he felt at his heart. "How could you ask me to hate you when I see that you're in so much pain?" He was near tears as he felt his body go numb from the cold, listening to her as she cried.

Pan broke away from the warmth of his body, bringing the back of her hands to wipe the tears that prevented her from seeing him. "I didn't p-picture you comforting me," she whispered through sniffles. Thunder boomed above them, and she felt her heart race. She never did like thunder or lightning. They always made her feel insecure, not knowing when another would crash in the sky.

"What did you picture?" He sounded hesitant, as if afraid of what she'd say.

Trunks' voice brought her back from her thoughts and she swallowed hard, finding it hard to speak. She drew in a breath and exhaled through her mouth. Then she inhaled once more, and said, "When I slapped you, you recovered quickly and slapped me back." Her voice was unusually steady, like she had recited this multiple times. "When I pushed you to the ground, you cursed at me." There was a flash of lightning but she did her best to ignore it as she continued. "When I glared at you, I imagined you getting up, grab my hair, and pull on it until I screamed in pain, then tell me you hate me - despise me, and wish I were d-dead." By the time she finished her sentence, she broke down again, this time not trying to prevent the tears that fell.

She cried hard in the rain, feeling raindrops mix with her tears on her face, the numb sensation in her legs spreading throughout her body. She couldn't stop crying even if she wanted to, because when she had been in Trunks' room, decorating his home, her heart broke. When Marron was crying in his home, she heard. When they spoke, she listened, and when they kissed, she saw. Pan had been afraid Trunks would notice the painting she had hung in the living room and come looking for her with Marron there, to find her crying in his bedroom. He didn't though. He left with Marron, leaving her alone to realize she had never stopped being in love with him, and the fact that she only knew of this the moment he kissed the other woman tore her apart.

"I would never do that to you, Pan. Why would you even _think_ that?" He brought his hand to her cheeks to brush her tears away, but the moment he touched her, she pushed him again, this time pinning his arms down to the wet, cold concrete ground from the top of his forearms. She noticed him wince, but thought nothing of this.

"I want you to do those things," she started as thunder once again erupted in the night. "_I n-need_ you to because..." she trailed off, realizing she had nearly revealed her feelings for him, but she already knew by the expression he held on his face that he wanted answers.

"Because what?"

She closed her eyes and tucked her chin in, her wet bangs covering her eyes. "It makes everything so much easier," she whispered. Pan turned her head to the side and when she couldn't hold back a choked sob, she stood up from the ground, her back to him.

Trunks stood as well, and for a while, listened: to her cries, the rain, and the trees rustling in the wind. He glanced up and allowed the rain to fall on his face, then looked back to Pan and stepped closer to her. He turned her so that she faced him, and firmly held her shoulder with one hand. With the other, he wiped away her tears, keeping eye contact with her. Then he lowered his hands until he held her elbows and pulled her to him, sliding his hands to her back, feeling her cheek against his neck.

Pan tried to step away and avoid another comforting embrace, but this time he didn't let go.

"Don't pull away," he whispered as she shook her head, crying, as if telling him he should let go. He didn't move though, and he felt her tense body relax moments later against his, and he closed his eyes, knowing she wasn't going to allow him to hold her after a few more minutes. She was always like that. He was aware of her anger toward him and of the pain she felt, and he wanted to hold her for as long as he could before she broke away. He felt her shiver from the cold, and just before he was able to bring her closer to him so she'd be warmer, he felt her raise both her hands and clutch his wet shirt, bringing them closer together instead.

"I n-need you to hate me, Trunks," she whispered, burying her face to his soaked shirt. He closed his eyes shut, fighting back his own tears, and once he regained confidence he wasn't going to break down, he opened them and drew in a shaky breath.

"I don't want to," he answered.

She seemed to cry harder at that. Then, she let go of his shirt and tried to pull away but he still had his arms around her. "Let me go," she told him, reaching for his hands around her waist. "I don't want to stay here anymore." She grabbed his wrists and pulled them from her. "Don't make this harder for me. Please don't," she sobbed.

He released her then, watching her wipe her tears on her soaked sleeve. "Tell me what's wrong, Pan. I'm not leaving you like this."

She didn't try to escape. She knew that it wouldn't have mattered anyway. He would have caught her, and because of his stubborn personality, he would hold onto her, afraid she'd attempt to run off again.

"I love you, Trunks," she took a small step backward, giving him eye contact. "And because of this, I can't tell you."

"Pan, I-"

"If you love me too, you'd let me go," she interrupted. For a moment, she stared at him, in case he'd protest. When he didn't, she gave him a sad, small smile and turned around and left, leaving him in the frigid rain.

For now, he'd let her have her way. He knew she wouldn't give him an answer right this very moment, and if he forced an answer from her, it might not be the truth. She was hurting him inside, but he knew that somehow, someway, he'd already hurt her.

* * *

A/N: Finally, after many wasted pages of useless writing for this chapter in my notebook (yes, I write my chapters out in hand now, which is another reason why I update so slow), I found what I was looking for! I didn't realize the last chapter was a little confusing, so I hope this clears things up. So basically, Pan was there when Trunks brought Marron home, and she heard and saw everything that happened. Oh yeah, what's OOC? lol. I couldn't figure it out when I read that review.. Anyway, thanks for those reviews and suggestions you guys, they really got me thinking for the next few chapters! 


	9. Missing You

Chapter 9 - Missing You

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Pan walked to the grocery store after arguing with her parents about her reasons to stay at home, since the incident with her best friend. They were becoming suspicious, but she never faltered with her excuse, and her speech about being tired from waking up so early was a success. When she arrived to the front of the grocery store, she noticed a large crowd of people had gathered in a tight circle that blocked her entrance. _These __**people! **_She thought, pushing her way into the circle, planning to cut through that way. _Why are they bunched up together like ants that had just found a Frito chip on the friggin' side walk?? Oh… That's why…_

She had squeezed between two people, only to come face to face with _him_. Trunks Briefs. Those weren't just regular people that formed this circle. They were those annoying, pesky, good-for-nothing photographers and reporters.

"Pan," he spoke, just as surprised as she was, though his face was expressionless.

The photographers were still shooting, oblivious to the tension between the two. As quickly as possible, Pan attempted to brush past him, but he grabbed her arm and she stopped. She didn't turn around though because of the cameras.

"The reporters, Trunks," she spoke quietly, so only he'd hear. He instantly let go and sighed as she went inside the grocery store.

"Are you familiar with that woman that just entered the store, Mr. Briefs?" A female reporter asked, putting the microphone she held to his face.

He didn't answer her right away. In fact, he didn't answer her at all, nor did he seem to hear her. He was busy thinking about Pan. This was the first time he'd seen her since she'd left him in the rain, not knowing what had happened to her. He had called but she never answered her cell phone, and whenever he tried to reach her by her home phone, she would hang up after her parents told her who was asking for her.

"It seems that this store is getting quite popular, don't you think?"

He blinked, staring right at the reporter who had just spoken, as if wondering if they'd just asked him a question. The microphone that was shoved to his face gave him an answer. He smiled apologetically at the reporters. "Unfortunately, I have to attend a personal family meeting right now. I apologize for any inconveniences I have made," he spoke quickly, in hopes he'd be able to catch Pan before she left. Once the reporters sadly nodded, he mumbled a quick "excuse me", followed by a fake smile, and headed behind a building. Then, when all the photographers and reporters were out of sight, he flew to the ground and entered the store Pan had gone to.

He spotted her by the bread area, looking through the bagels selection. Lowering his ki, he walked quietly behind her, holding his breath as he did so. He was just about to put a hand down on one of her shoulders, when she grabbed his arm, spun around and pulled her free hand back, as if she were going to punch him. She stopped herself though when she recognized him. Her eyes widened and she let go of him, hearing him sigh of relief.

"You scared the crap out of me, he said smiling, attempting to lighten the mood and forget about their last encounter. He noticed her look from him to the floor, then back again as she searched for a reply. He was hoping she'd insult him like what she'd usually do, but when she forced a smile, he knew things had changed between them.

"I'm sorry," she said, disappointing him. She turned her back to him and stared at the display of wheat products, but her thoughts were no where near which to buy anymore. Instead, they were of him. When she thought she heard him sigh again and walk away, she quickly turned around to leave too, but her ambitions were put to an end. He was still behind her, and to her dismay, the sounds she heard were from a couple passing by, not him.

"Whoa there, where's the fire?" he joked, but she didn't laugh. She didn't reply to him, so he decided to keep talking, knowing eventually, she'd speak. He brought an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his side, and walked to the exit. "We don't talk much anymore, Pan," he said, looking at the expression on her face.

He felt her resist his hold on her as they stepped out of the store, but he just held her tighter, not wanting to let go and see her leave again.

"Trunks, stop," she said under her breath so the public wouldn't notice them. She felt him let go of her, pulling back his arm he had on her shoulders, and though she wouldn't admit it, she felt disappointed when he did.

"We're still friends, right?" he murmured as they walked together, the distance between them greater than usual. They weren't sure where they were headed, but there was thick tension between them and both couldn't ask of their destination. He felt her eyes on him but he didn't look back, knowing if he did, she would turn away. This way, there was a greater chance she'd answer his question. A question that kept coming to him the past few weeks they were apart. But she didn't answer. His curiosity got the best of him and he looked at her. She just smiled at him, almost sadly, and he had to peel his eyes off of her. When they passed by Capsule Corporation, he put a hand on her shoulder, and her eyes met his again.

"Why don't you have dinner with my family tonight?" he asked hesitantly. "It's been a while since you've seen my sister, and-"

"I can't, Trunks. I'm busy," she interrupted, and he sighed.

"I really want to know what happened that night," he told her, and she stopped walking, him following suit.

"I told you already, Trunks. I'm busy." She didn't meet eye contact with him, for she couldn't bring herself to. Her voice was calm – too calm, in Trunks' opinion, and he pressed her forward.

"You see, now I know that you're avoiding me," he accused, the volume of his voice increasing with every word he spoke. Pan just scoffed, and this increased his anger.

"When are you going to be ready to talk then, Pan? Five years? Maybe fifty!" he threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. "I might as well be as good as dead!"

She blinked at him and of his sudden outburst, but then her eyebrows furrowed downward into a glare. "Do you know what? Maybe I _am_ avoiding you, _Mr. Briefs_, but at least I'm not being a stubborn, whiny, conceited_ jerk_ who has no responsibilities for his company at all!"

"Oh, so _I'm _stubborn?" He shook his head and looked to the building beside them as if he couldn't bring himself to look at her. "Who's _stubborn_, Pan? You or me? Who has been sneaking around this city to avoid running into her friends and speaking with them?" Then he turned his head and glared at her. "Who threw everything away; her friends, her social life, and family, to hide secrets? So, now hearing all this, _who _is the stubborn one here??"

Pan choked back a laugh that sounded more like a sob. "What _family_, Trunks? I _live_ with my family; I'm not running from them." She angrily stomped off, not knowing, or caring, for that matter, where she was heading. She could hear him following after her, which only added to the burning flames of anger toward him. Then she turned sharply to continue their raging conversation, oblivious that he was now just behind her. Their sudden closeness forced her to forget what she was going to say, but it didn't stop Trunks from filling in for her.

"_I_ consider you to be family, Pan," he shouted. "I had to watch over you ever since you were little up until now, so give me a reason why, besides our different blood, we aren't family!"

Pan couldn't stop glaring at the man in front of her as she tried to find words to say. She could tell that he was just as angry as she was, if not more, but it didn't faze her at all. Well, that's what she kept telling herself, but as each second passed, she realized that their conversation was ruining what was left of their relationship from their encounter weeks ago. She wanted to stop arguing with him, but her pride wouldn't let her lose the verbal battle between them. "I would never want to be related to you, _ever_ Mr. Briefs, because if we were, I'd beat you _so_ hard, you'd go straight to HFIL."

"That's amazing Pan, considering its not possible, and even if it were, you wouldn't be able to!" He saw her turn around as if she were about to leave, but he grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her back to face him as he continued. "And I know for a fact that you are _not _busy, because I know you well enough that judging by the skirt you're wearing, you forgot to do your laundry again, and you refuse to meet friends in that situation. You also wouldn't be at work since you don't _have_ one, and _no_, I'm not rubbing that fact in your face, I'm simply trying to get you to realize that I," he paused, laughing bitterly, then continued, "I, Trunks Briefs, who is once again late for work after my oh-so-short-lunch break, miss you!"

He had to catch his breath first before he could continue. "Yes, Pan, I _miss_ you, okay? I wonder what happened between us that day every night and if you're okay, but do I ever get an answer?? Am I ever relieved of my worries for you? I realized that I would never be. Not until you decide for yourself that you want to tell me what happened." His voice lowered to a half whisper, as if he had finally calmed down. "And do you now what I also miss?"

He pulled her even closer with a hand, until they were inches apart. Then he leaned his head towards hers, and though she looked at their feet, he didn't make her look at him. Instead, he continued forward until his lips met her left cheek, and for a moment, he waited there, until she would push him away, but she didn't. He pulled back slowly until they were merely an inch away again, and sighed. "This," he whispered. "I miss this too." With out another word, he loosened his hold on her and stepped back. Then he looked to the floor, then back to her, and walked away to his office in Capsule Corp.

When she was unable to see his figure, she released a breath she didn't know she was holding. Her fingers were trembling, though she didn't know why. Unconsciously, her fingers came up and brushed that spot where he'd kissed her, and when Pan realized what she was doing, she clenched her hands into a tight fist in frustration.

Why was it that she had to coincidentally bump into him the day her parents told her to go grocery shopping? Maybe it was punishment for avoiding her best friend, knowing full well that he wanted to see her, but she was afraid to. If she were to speak to him now, there wouldn't be enough control in her to contain her feelings for him. She didn't want to be in love with him, since Marron was obviously in love too, but this wasn't the only reason why she needed to fall out of love. Trunks was her best friend, and if she were to be infatuated with him, their friendship would fall apart eventually if he found out.

Though her mind was against falling in love with him, she had no total control of that. Sometimes she had no control of her actions or what she spoke when she was around him, and before she was able to prevent just that, she found herself whispering, "I miss you too."

* * *

A/N: Hey! Thanks for the reviews, you guys! And thanks for pushing me to finish this chapter. I was having a hard time getting motivated to write this story, but I knew I shouldn't leave this story like it was because that would be mean of me. lol. So I decided to make this chapter longer just for you guys! … Ok, maybe that's partially a lie… hehe. Well, it _is_ a little longer, but that was just an accident. I thought four pages of handwritten stuff wasn't enough, so I made it six handwritten pages in my notebook instead. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. I'm a little nervous putting this chapter up because the time was 3 weeks after the previous chapter, so maybe some of you might think the time jumped too far ahead and I should write something that fits before this one… But who knows, I might just be paranoid or something.. I'll just have to wait for your reviews! 

Special thanks to SacXibSaac for emailing me and reminding me that people are waiting for me to finish the chapter! lol.


	10. Imperfect Timing

Chapter 11 – Imperfect Timing

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"Trunks, I don't think that's a good idea. We might be late for work." 

Marron grabbed his hand that was holding her arm and tried to pull them off, but with out success. He was practically dragging her out of the building during their lunch break, and towards his home. He had asked her to join him for lunch, and she had accepted. Her answer was before he invited her to his home and have lunch there.

"Oh come on, Marron," he spoke nonchalantly. "You've only been to my place once, and hey," he stopped walking for a short moment and pulled her close until their noses touched. "Don't you remember that was where you discovered how skilled I am at kissing?" he whispered huskily, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. Her blush made him smile, and he leaned in for a kiss but she looked away, causing him to kiss her cheek instead of her lips. He didn't seem to contemplate much on this when she smiled, and he grabbed her arm again and they continued walking side by side, to his home.

She felt his arm snake around her waist, pulling them closer, and she giggled and rested her head on his shoulder. Her smile vanished quickly though, and she sighed softly, watching as they neared his home.

They were now at the front door of his house, and as he looked for his keys in his pockets, Marron studied his features. His lips were slightly curved downward, as if he had been thinking of something that bothered him, and his eyes were dulled. She took a small step away from him, pulling her head away from his shoulder to take a better look and nodded to herself, approving her earlier judgments.

"Are you okay, Trunks?"

He looked surprised when she asked, but he quickly shook it off and gave her a reassuring smile. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

He seemed to have found his keys at that, and after hearing their jingling in his pocket, she shrugged. "I dunno." She smiled at him and with a playful tone, added, "Maybe it's just your face."

She laughed when his jaw dropped, keys dangling from a hand. Then he shoved the key in the lock and they stepped inside, but she was surprised when he grabbed her shoulders and pressed her to the inside of the door, closing it shut in the process.

"So you're saying I look funny?" He asked, pretending to be hurt by her comment. She smiled widely and nodded, earning a small pout from him. He faked a sob, his face lowering and facing the ground so that she couldn't see his face, and she had to laugh again. Then he looked back up to her, before she was able to recover from recover from her laughter. He could tell she wasn't aware of his staring at her, but he didn't mind, as he was busy studying her face and how her lips curved upwards beautifully.

"Your smile is adorable," he whispered, and Marron's laughter slowly subsided. She gave him a confused look, her smile still there, but he didn't give her an explanation. Instead, he slowly came closer to her, holding her in place. He felt her tremble in his arms, and he slid one hand up to her cheek to lightly brush her hair away, and by now, her smile disappeared. She looked first into his eyes, which weren't as dull as before, then she trailed down to his slightly parted lips. Just before his lips pressed against hers, she turned away again, but he used the hand he had on her cheek to gently touch her chin and turn her back to him.

"Trunks," she spoke, watching as he came closer to her, but he gave her no reply. "We're… going to be late for work."

He pulled her so she was off the wall and in his arms, her body touching his. "We just got here," he answered.

"I know, but-" she was interrupted by his finger to her lips.

"I can't kiss you if you keep talking."

"I know, but I… I um…" She stalled by looking away again, though that only gave her a few seconds due to another gentle touch of his fingers on her chin. His lips came closer to hers and then, without thinking, she sputtered, "I have STDS!"

She looked just as confused as he did; both their eyes were wide, eyebrows raised, and mouth slightly open. Trunks was the first one to speak.

"Sexually Transmitted Disease?" Disbelief was in his voice as he spoke, but his eyebrows were still raised, as if he were unsure whether to accept her statement or not.

"Um… Yeah." _Apparently_, she thought. She mentally slapped herself for not finding a better, reasonable excuse as she studied his features.

"Have you ever…" he trailed off, not finishing his sentence, but she knew what he was asking.

"No." It was then that she realized her mistake, and again, she mentally slapped herself. Hard.

"Then you don't have STDs, liar," he spoke, laughing. He bumped his forehead with hers softly and continued to laugh, his eyes shut tight as he felt tears form at the corners of them. The color of his face was slightly pink from the lack of air in his lungs, and his body was shaking uncontrollably.

"Trunks, come on, it's not that funny." She placed her hands on his shoulder and shook him, but stopped when his laughter ceased. A smile was still on his face though, and his pearly white teeth could be seen. He bumped their foreheads together again as well as their noses, and stared into her eyes.

"Um… I think we should be heading back to work now," Marron whispered unsurely. "It's been a while since we got here, and it'll take a while for us to get back too."

"It's only been five minutes since we got here." His smile faded and he pulled his head back a few inches. "What's going on, Marron? I'm not stupid. I know that every time I try to kiss you, you avoid me."

She pulled her hands out of his and sighed. "I'm not avoiding you, Trunks. Trust me, I don't _want_ to, and it's not _every time_."

He raised an eyebrow at her and shrugged. "Whatever you say." He slowly grabbed her arms and their eyes met. He didn't add to his response though, and after a while, he stepped back and stretched his arms, letting go of hers. "So what do you want to eat?" He led her to the living room and they sat down on the couch, side by side.

"You're mad at me, aren't you?" she spoke softly, nervously playing with her fingers. She could feel his eyes on her, but she refused to look his way. She felt a hand on her shoulder, then another hand on both of hers, stopping her nervous habit. Marron couldn't resist glancing at him, and when she did, he gave her a small smile.

"No, I'm not." He pulled her close and enveloped her in an embrace. "Confused, maybe, but definitely not angry."

She looked up at him and then softly kissed him at the corner of his lips. Their contact caused him to close his eyes, and he sighed. "But… Is there something you're not telling me?" He opened his eyes to meet hers and shifted his position so that their bodies faced one another.

"I don't want to lie to you," she replied. She felt him shift his position on the couch, then place his hand on her shoulder.

"Then don't."

"That's why I can't tell you."

They didn't speak after that, and she knew he was probably contemplating what she could be hiding from him, but she didn't want to interrupt his thoughts. He was probably annoyed at her, thinking that she may be cheating on him, or using him for money. There were many things she'd thought he would say, but when he did speak, it was completely unexpected.

"Okay. It's alright," was all he said before he leaned toward her and paused just before her lips. He slowly exhaled puffs of air through his partially open mouth, waiting for her response.

This time, Marron didn't move away. Instead, she smiled tentatively, feeling his hot breaths warm her face. He brought his hand from her shoulder, to her cheek and then closed his eyes, leaning in to complete his actions.

A loud noise stopped him, followed by a vibration in his pocket. His eyes shot open and he met her brown ones. He raised an eyebrow and frowned, but earned a similar look from her.

"It's your phone, not mine," she said, and she reached to his waist and sneaked her hand to his pant pocket that held the vibrating device and grasped it firmly. Then she pulled it out and waved it in his face. "Found it." She dropped it in his hand, pulled her body away from him, and rested against the back of the couch. She watched him glance from the floor to his cell and then after another vibration from it, he slid it open and brought it to his ear.

"Trunks Briefs here." He listened to the caller's reply and looked at his wristwatch. "Yeah, it's my lunch break right now. No, it's no problem at all. I'll be there in ten minutes. Okay. Talk to you then." He closed his phone and turned to look at the woman next to him. "The business associate we tried to contact last week just got back to the company, and I need to attend a meeting regarding out contract now, but you can stay here if you'd like."

Marron raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Okay. When you get the paperwork, just put it on my desk as usual."

He stood up and placed his phone back in his pocket. "Alright." A moment later, he offered a hand to Marron, and she accepted it. He pulled her up, though once she stood in front of him, he didn't let go. "I'm sorry I ruined our lunch break," he murmured, feeling for her other hand with his. He grasped them and once he found it, added, "I wasn't blaming you when they called, Marron. I was just annoyed at their 'perfect' timing."

She shrugged. "I know the contract is important for the company, Trunks. It's no big deal. I understand completely." She hesitated before continuing. "But maybe our timing wasn't perfect either."

He looked to their feet and laced their fingers together. "How's the timing now?"

She didn't smile like he'd expected her to, and her response was short and simple. "You have a meeting to go to."

Their eyes met but once they did, he looked away again. "Right. So I'll just… See you later?"

"Yeah."

He let go of her hands at that and stepped back, feeling for his keys again. He pulled them out once he found them and sighed. "I'll wait for you back at my office, okay?" He saw her nod, and he stepped closer to her to kiss her cheek, knowing full well she'd just turn away if he tried to kiss her elsewhere. He turned around to face the door once he broke their contact, and began his exit.

The moment he was halfway out the door, hand still on the knob, he paused when she softly called out his name. He didn't turn around to meet her eyes, and she didn't wait for him to. He heard her inhale deeply and slowly let out a ragged breath, as if preparing herself for what she was about to say to him.

"I think you'll be aware when the timing will be perfect."

* * *

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, you guys! That's the most reviews I have ever gotten for a chapter, and I appreciate every single one of them. Pan's not in this chapter, but she'll appear in the next. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, despite the fact that this one has Marron in it, lol. 


	11. Appearances

Chapter 11 – Appearances

A/N: This chapter is the same day as the previous one.. Notice what time Pan woke up.

* * *

It was 12:00 in the afternoon and Pan was sound asleep in her room. Her room was finally clean again; the carpet floors now visible and not cluttered with DVD cases of sappy love stories she had been watching. Her bedroom window was slightly open, and soft chirpings of birds could be heard, but this didn't wake her up from her slumber. 

"Pan!!"

That did. She shot straight up, her hair tangled from the tossing and turning of that night's seven-hour sleep. She could have pulled an all-nighter, but she had decided against it, as doing so would require her to be weary. Rubbing the sleep away from her eyes, she yawned and slowly fell backwards, in attempt to go back to sleep again. The reasons she was unable to sleep were clear to her. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw _him_, which prevented her from sleeping peacefully, but now she was far too tired to be distracted by the face of her best friend. Pan was just about to fall into unconsciousness, when she heard her name being called out again.

"What!" her voice was raspy, and she cleared her throat before repeating her reply, this time, louder. Her parents never responded and she groaned, sliding her legs down the side of her bed. Then she pulled her body up and shuffled to her door and into the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth and took a quick shower. Once she finished, she headed down the stairs, only to be greeted with her angry parents. A scowl was set firmly on their faces, and she had to cringe, preparing for their scolding.

"Didn't we ask you to go grocery shopping yesterday, Pan?" her mother asked, tapping a finger on her crossed arms.

Pan sighed. She had completely forgotten about the list of items to buy after seeing Trunks there. Now because of him, she would have to go back to the store after her parents realize that she had stopped listening to their complaints. Pan nodded her head at appropriate times to be convincing, and waited.

-

She was alone in his home, yet that didn't creep her out at all. Her previous thoughts after he had left for his meeting was to head on out and find a local grocery store and grab a healthy sandwich to go, for the reason was there was no one to talk to. However as she walked to the front door to leave, a framed picture that lay on top of a small decorative drawer caught her eye. Marron curiously picked the photo up from the polished mahogany furniture and studied the couple.

There he was, his lavender hair covering part of his eyes, though his left eye was shut tight as if he were bothered. He looked happy though, even when the other person in the picture was grabbing the blue bandana around his neck in attempt to take it off but instead, choking him. The girl in the picture next to him looked awfully familiar. Marron had seen her before, but they never did talk to each other.

After a moment of contemplation, the answer struck her. That was the daughter of Gohan and Videl! Of course it was Pan, though she couldn't blame herself for not recognizing her at first. Pan looked much older than the last time she had seen her, and this made her wonder if the girl's little crush on Trunks still existed. They had searched for the dragonballs together in a spacecraft with Goku years ago. She had to assume they had grown a friendly relationship with each other after spending so much time together. It was predictable and knowing Trunks, he would never be condescending with anyone. He would instead think of others equal to him; not ranking anyone higher or lower to him despite any age differences.

Marron studied both of their features further. They were both undoubtedly happy, and the more she stared at their joyful expressions, the wider her own smile grew. However it didn't last, as she had a thought. Could it be that Pan was still infatuated with Trunks?

This made her remember about her outburst in Trunks' office about a month ago. She had nearly told him that he didn't even realize that Pan was in love with him. She wasn't thinking at that time, and as she did now, she couldn't help but frown. Could it be that that outburst had been coincidental? Maybe Pan still liked him more than a friend.

She didn't know what to think. Was it still okay to be with Trunks even if she thought there was a possibility that Pan still liked him? Of course, she hadn't initiated their relationship. Trunks did, when he had kissed her the last time they were here. Though there was always a tugging at her heart whenever she saw him. Even when he smiled, he seemed sad, and that's what was bothering her. At first, she had thought that maybe it was stress from work, but then she began to suspect that maybe, just maybe, he didn't really love her like she loves him but wasn't aware of it yet.

Marron shook her head in confusion and all of a sudden, she felt lightheaded. She gently put the photo back down on the drawer and leaned against the wall. Then she breathed in deeply and slowly let it out, watching as the floor became more clear, rather than blurry. Minutes later, she pushed herself off the wall and to the front door of Trunks' home. There was still another forty-five minutes before her lunch break ended, but she decided to head back to work anyway. There were probably documents on her desk that needed to be filed anyway.

-

"It's not like I was ignoring them, I knew exactly what they were going to say to me, and I feel that it wasn't necessary to listen," Pan mumbled to herself, a load of cash in her pocket for groceries. She kicked a rock that was in front of her in irritation. "If they _wanted_ an omelet so bad, they could have gotten it themselves!"

Pan turned sharply by a store quickly, seeing the grocery shop she had been in yesterday come in view, only to be knocked to the ground. She groaned, rubbing her head in pain. When she opened her eyes, the person she had carelessly bumped into was none other than Marron. Her eyes widened, and she quickly got up. Though she felt angry towards the other woman, not because of her fall, but of her relationship with her best friend, she offered her a hand.

"Marron! What a surprise!" After those words stumbled out of her mouth, she realized that wasn't the appropriate greeting after colliding into each other. "I mean, I'm sorry about that. I just felt like I should be in a rush because of my omelet obsessed-… Well, it's a long story." She smiled sheepishly. "Anyway, I better let you go on your way. I'm sure you're busy with your job or something."

"Wait," Marron responded, before Pan was able to go past her. "I'm… I'm actually on my lunch break now, and… Well, we haven't spoken to each other since-"

"We've never spoken to each other," Pan interjected.

She seemed to have embarrassed Marron, but she found no words to apologize, as she watched her struggle to find words to say.

Marron gave her a nervous laugh and smiled. "I guess you're right, so… I was wondering if you'd like to… You know, have lunch with me or something, and we can catch up on what we've never started."

"You mean… Like friends?" She spoke as if the blonde had said something impossible. She waited for the other woman to explain why she had all of a sudden came up with this idea, but when she didn't, she decided to speak. Pan nodded slowly, once again forgetting about grocery shopping. "Sure. We can give it a try."

-

They were seated comfortably outside a café, their hot beverages steaming in front of them. Not a word was spoken since they arrived, and the silence between them was obvious. Both women didn't make eye contact with each other, aware of the tension between the two, though oblivious of the other's thoughts. Finally, when it was decided that they should speak, both spoke at the same time.

"So…"

Marron laughed easily, and Pan smiled. It was definitely an awkward moment for the two, for many reasons, though Marron was unknowing of Pan's reason, and Pan was unaware of hers.

The blonde took this moment to sip her beverage, hoping she could find something to say to get rid of the silence. She noticed yesterday when she had spoken to Trunks late in the night, that he was upset about something, and she had a feeling the reason for that related to Pan. Of course, she would never bring this subject up to the girl across from her, knowing it would be rude.

"So Marron," Pan decided to speak first. "Where do you work?" She stirred her drink with a spoon, watching as the liquid swirled in her cup. It was then that she noticed the hesitant reply, and she looked up to make eye contact.

"Well, I'm a secretary." Marron rubbed her arms unconsciously, nervously smiling. "A personal secretary, actually."

"Really? I've always imagined you to be some business woman of some sort." Pan smiled and scooted her chair forward, then crossed her legs. "So a personal secretary for whom?"

"Just… A CEO."

Pan raised an eyebrow, noticing her trying to dodge the question, but she pressed on, curious to find out why. "Of what company?"

"Capsule Corp. I'm Trunks' personal secretary," she spoke tentatively, watching the expression on the Pan's face. Judging by the slightly larger eyes and raised eyebrows, followed by her slightly opened mouth, Marron decided that she was surprised.

Pan recovered quickly however, quickly closing her mouth and changing the expression set on her face. "Oh really? What a coincidence. That must be nice, working with someone you know so well." She tried to make her fingers stop shaking as she reached out for her cup and took a sip. "Trunks has never told me about you working for him."

"It's not that big of a deal, really. I just file… things and remind him of… stuff." Her choice of vocabulary was unprofessional, and Pan could tell she was making the other woman uncomfortable.

Before anything else could be said from Pan, Marron decided to start another topic. "So you've been friends with Trunks for awhile, haven't you?" The second that question slipped out of her mouth she regretted it, seeing Pan's face sadden. Her predictions about Trunks' last night distressed tone were true. It did concern Pan.

"Um… Well, I… You're his girlfriend, Marron, shouldn't you know??" Pan clasped her mouth with her hand instantly after her outburst. "I'm sorry, I just… I have no excuse, but it's just that…" She sighed and noticed the hurt expression on Marron's face. Then she pushed her cup away from her, as if she had lost her appetite, and continued with a shaky voice. "A few weeks ago, my relationship with him fell downhill, and yesterday was the first time we've spoken since weeks before, but nothing's improved."

Marron stared at the table in front of them, and then slowly looked up to meet brown eyes. "You should try to make up with him, Pan." Though she felt a tug at her heart, she spoke what she thought was right. "Trunks really cares about you, and I'm not just saying it because you guys were friends. I can tell… He's hurting inside Pan."

"I'm not going to. I don't want to."

Her eyebrows furrowed downwards after hearing this, and she sat straight up. "What?"

"There's a reason why I have no interest in fixing my friendship with him, Marron, and if you didn't know, I don't like people telling me what I should and should not do. I know you remember me as the little girl who had to be watched by my uncle Goten and Trunks, but I'm not that girl anymore." Pan looked away and closed her eyes for a moment. "And frankly, I don't care if he-"

Before she could finish, she felt a nudge to her leg from underneath the table from Marron. She was about to protest, when Marron slightly tilted her head to her right, and when she glanced at the area, she saw Trunks a few feet from them, walking their way. She would have thanked the woman for stopping her from finishing her sentence before he was able to catch on to what they were talking about, but she was much more concerned about the situation before them.

Trunks reached their table before Pan could think of what to do. When his eyes met hers, she looked away, and then heard his voice. "Marron, the meeting I was supposed to go to was postponed until tomorrow. It seems as if they hit traffic, and decided it was best to schedule it then."

"Alright then. It looks like we still have about twenty-five minutes before we need to head back to work." Marron noticed Pan's uneasiness, though before she was able to speak again, Pan stood up.

"Well, I'd better go now. It was fun hanging out and get to know you, Marron. We should meet again sometime." She spoke as if Trunks wasn't even there next to them, and she didn't meet his gaze.

"Um… Okay. I guess I'll see you some other time. Take care, Pan." She saw the girl smile at her, but she could tell it wasn't as genuine as it could be. Her smile was more anxious, probably because of Trunks. She stood up anyway and glanced at Trunks. His hands were clenched tightly into a fist, and he was glaring, not at her, but at Pan.

"So you're going to leave just because I showed up?" His voice was tense, as if angered, but it was no surprise, to Pan anyway.

Her back was turned to him, and she stopped mid-step. "I don't see why I can't, _Mr. Briefs_."

Marron couldn't help but cringe hearing the two speak coldly at each other. She brought a hand to her boyfriend, in hopes to calm him down, but he shook her off.

"You're being impolite, leaving unexpectedly like that, to my girlfriend."

The blonde once again tried to make him stop arguing with the other girl. "Trunks, it's not-"

"Just because you're angry at me, doesn't give you the right to harass me," Pan spoke, interrupting Marron's attempts. She turned around to match his glare with her own. "And to tell you the truth, I couldn't care less whether you're furious or not, but at least I'm not trying to start an argument!" Pan turned around to leave, but was stopped when Trunks roughly pulled her back. She stumbled forward and collided to his chest.

"You're _not_ telling me the truth, and I'm _not_ trying to start a fight, because it has already been started by _you_, yesterday." Trunks felt Marron's hand on his arm again, but he ignored it. "I would have thought that _you_, of all people, wouldn't be so juvenile to run from your problems, and to not let it develop into a complicated-"

"Okay, now you're being irrational!" She spoke before he could finish. "Actually wait, I'm wrong. You were _already_ irrational from the start! Who's more juvenile, Trunks? Who decided to 'waltz' on in here and start this argument?" Pan snatched her arm back from his grasp and stepped back, only to bump into the chair she had used earlier. "I, for one, want to leave, but _who_ pulled me back to continue this fight? Who's the one that-"

"Who's the one that left their best friend in the rain weeks ago, not knowing why, or how their friendship ended?" He had spoken quietly, his eyes softened, and his hands unclenched. He couldn't look at either of them, hurt written all over his face.

Pan's eyes traveled to her their feet, but then to Marron. The woman was confused, she could tell. When Marron felt eyes on her, she gave eye contact, and for a moment, they just stared. Both of them could feel that for some reason, they were a problem to the other. Marron was one of the reasons why Pan broke off her friendship with Trunks, and Pan was the cause of Trunks' behavior, affecting Marron's relationship with him.

This was when Pan decided to turn around and leave without a word.

* * *

A/N: Hm... I think this is one of the longest chapters I've written so far. Anyway, school started already, so I'm not sure how much time I have to write fast. I will write though, it just might take some time. I know the next chapter is almost completed. I just need to go over it, add some more stuff, and edit. 


	12. Forever Would I Wait

Chapter 12 – Forever would I Wait

* * *

_Tell me what I did wrong, Pan. How the heck am I supposed to know why you want to avoid me?_

She didn't want to talk to him, let alone tell him her reasons. As she listened to her voicemail on her cell phone, she began to wonder if he was angry. He sure didn't sound slightly enraged as she listened to his message, but she knew he was a professional at sounding a certain way even if he was feeling the opposite. After all, he is the president of his company, and during his years of working, he met countless intimidating associates.

_I don't understand. I know you don't want to tell me what happened when I caught you in my room, but I can't help but think about it. We didn't really speak to each other that day, unless you count the morning, and yet something happened. _

Then she heard another voice speaking to him, but it was too faint to be heard. Trunks spoke to the person too, and his voice was mumbled, as if he sloppily covered his phone. Finally, he came back.

_Listen, my break is ending soon, so I should go. I… I'm going to come to your house after work, but I'll wait outside your room, and if you open the door, I'll know that you want to rekindle our friendship. If you don't open the door, I'll take the hint and never bother you again. So… I hope we see each other soon…_

He ended the message then. Pan closed her cell phone and sighed. Then she walked to the edge of her bed and fell backwards to the mattress. She closed her eyes, gripping her phone in her hand. When he comes, should she open her room door and let him in? She wasn't sure, but she knew she had to figure out an answer soon.

-

"I'll see you later, Marron."

Trunks kissed her on the cheek and smiled at the blonde. They were outside of Capsule Corp. after work, saying their usual goodbyes.

She smiled at him, and grabbed his hands. "So… You'll go to Pan's home now, right?" When he nodded, she leaned in and gave him a hug. "Trust me, you'll thank me later." When she tried to pull away from him to end their hug, she felt him tighten his hold on her.

"Wait, I like holding you close."

She giggled and gave him a small squeeze. "Trunks, come on." Then she tried to pull away again, but still he held on. "You need to go now, mister."

Trunks slightly loosened his grip and breathed in her scent. Then he softly knocked his forehead with hers. "Why do you want to help so badly?" He felt her breath on him, and he felt the heat between their faces.

"Because even if you say you don't, you really do care whether you guys are friends or not."

"I swear, you're like a saint now," he laughed, smiling widely, but he held sadness on his features. Marron sort of gave him a half-smile, staring into his ocean blue eyes. When she felt his grip loosen, she let go of him, and sighed.

"I'm far from being a saint, Trunks." After hearing this, Trunks mumbled a 'whatever', giving her one of his grins. He kissed her cheek and when she smiled and turned around to her car, he waited, watching her. She opened the car door and stepped into the driver's side. Once she was ready to leave, she glanced at him through her rear-view mirror and gave him a smile as she waved him a goodbye. He saluted instead, and she laughed, shaking her head in mock disapproval. Then she pulled her car into the driveway and gave him another small wave before increasing her speed and disappearing in the distance.

When he could no longer see her car, he turned to the direction of the Son's residence. He knew he would have to make an excuse to visit and wait outside of Pan's room, which would be hard to explain, because knowing her, she wouldn't want her parents to worry about her, and she would not have told them about her situation with him. In fact, her parents probably thought that they were still friends, despite her discontinued visits to his house in the early mornings. Then again, he wasn't sure if her parents were aware that she had been waking up early to rouse him from his slumber for work. He wasn't sure if that mattered to her parents or not, but he wasn't going to bring up the subject and cause trouble for the girl.

He arrived to their home moments later, and as he walked up the driveway, he racked his brain for an excuse. This wasn't exactly _lying_ to her parents, he convinced himself. It was more of… Not telling them the complete truth. Yes, that's what he thought of it, and that's probably what Pan's reasoning was too. He had to admit; the two of them thought alike, which was why they always would have hilarious moments when he was with her. They used to get into so much trouble when they were together in their free time, but those details are for another story. Besides, they had too many moments together; it would take half a lifetime to reminisce.

So he stood outside their front door, leaning against it in contemplation. He was careful not to make any uproarious noises so no one in their household would be aware of his arrival yet. Unfortunately for him, someone had either heard him or was coincidentally leaving the house just when he leaned against it, and he nearly fell over, but caught himself just in time.

"Trunks?"

He turned around and met Gohan and Videl's eyes. He smiled nervously and cleared his throat embarrassed. "Hey," he greeted. He noticed the two in their business suits, and before he was able to stop himself, he spoke, "Are you guys going somewhere?"

Gohan smiled and wrapped an arm around his wife. "Yeah, I had a call from my work and unfortunately, I have to take the place of co-worker who was supposed to go across the seas to a meeting. So now, I'll be gone for about a week or too, and as you know, Videl manages a small but important part of the business, and she is required to travel with me."

It was then that Videl decided to speak up. "I'm sure Pan will be fine by herself for a while. After all, it will teach her to be more responsible. I swear that girl has issues." She smiled and chuckled to herself. "A few weeks ago, we used to find her gone early in the morning, leaving us no note of where she had gone to. We trust her though, and she has a good heart, so we aren't worried. It's just that sometimes we just wish that she would understand that we are concerned of her safety out so early in the morning."

Trunks gave them a soft smile. "Well, I know that she loves her parents very much. After all, wouldn't she have moved out by now if she hadn't?"

His comment got the couple to laugh, and he had nearly forgotten the reason he had come, until Gohan stepped outside along with Videl.

"Well, I apologize for us leaving early. It's been a while since you've visited, and just when you do, we have to go." Gohan shook his head apologetically. "But Pan will be happy to see you, I'm sure of it. I'll see you later, alright?"

Trunks nodded and smiled. "Yeah." He watched them head to their car, and before they got into it, he called out, "I hope all goes well with your business trip!" Both looked to him and waved, then went into their car and drove off, leaving him in front of their open door.

He waited until he couldn't see their car, like he had waited for Marron, and once he did; he slowly walked into the Son's home. He could sense her in the living room somewhere, and he cautiously walked there. Trunks stopped though when Pan nearly bumped into him around a corner. She didn't meet his eyes, in all likelihood that she had heard him chat with her parents earlier. He waited for her to speak, but when she didn't he decided to start off a conversation.

"Are you heading somewhere?" he murmured, and that's when she made eye contact with him. He involuntarily shivered by her almost cold stare, but luckily for him, she didn't seem to notice.

"I'm going to be gone for a while. Get some groceries and stuff, you know?" Her voice was soft, and he could tell that she was avoiding him, though he didn't bring it up.

"When are you coming back?" After he had spoken, he realized he sounded like a child asking his mother when she would come back to the doctor's office after his checkup.

"I don't know. Probably after a long time." She studied his features and detected disappointment, that or sadness. He had looked away already to stare at the wall beside them that was covered with family pictures, his eyes trailing to the photo that included him in it. She was in that photo also. It was one of the more recent ones they had taken together, but at the moment, it seemed like a decade ago. "But you can stay here if you want." She didn't know why she had said it. When she thought about it, it wasn't a very good idea. She had already spoken though, and couldn't possibly take that back. So instead, she added, "You probably wouldn't want to, since I'm going to take a while and I'm not sure when I'm coming back."

He looked back to her. For a moment, he just stared, but then he spoke, his voice just above a whisper. "I'll wait for you."

Pan nodded slowly, then brushed past him to the front door. She didn't say goodbye, just left and closed the front door softly behind her. She sighed and gripped her cell phone she had in her pocket through her jeans. Then she walked down the steps and toward town. She had no money in her hands, and she wasn't planning to go to the grocery store or anywhere else for that matter. She just didn't want to talk to him. Not yet anyway. So she decided to stall for time, and think.

-

As he waited for her to return, he browsed around her home, noticing not much had changed the last time he had been here. Of course, it had been maybe a month and a half since then, but her family didn't rearrange their furniture frequently like his mother. Bulma had always moved furniture around, whether it was a couch, or all of the furniture in his former home. Remembering this, he was glad he had moved out. He should have a long time ago, considering his age, he thought as he walked up the stairs, glancing at the wall lined with photos.

He stopped in front of Pan's room, where he pondered for a moment. Was he even allowed to enter her room? He had done this multiple times before, but that wasn't after the situation they were going through now. Maybe it was still okay. After all, he wasn't going to do anything; just look around. He held in a breath, and cautiously took the doorknob in his hand. Then, with a small push, he stepped into the room.

There was something different about her room since the last time he had been here, but he wasn't sure what. Trunks noticed she had finally taken down the poster of her favorite band that had disbanded years ago. He had told her to take it down before, but she told him they would change their minds and regroup. They never did, and he figured that she was tired of waiting, and finally took it down. The poster wasn't the change that he had noticed when he glanced around though. It was the framed photo on the side of her bed on top of her nightstand. He walked toward it, and sat on the edge of her bed, picking it up. He noticed it was empty. Pan must have taken the photo out after their fight.

He sighed and stretched his arms out and behind him, then leaned backwards, his hands sliding on the top of her bed as he leaned back. He stopped though when he felt his fingers brush against something underneath her pillow. He sat back up and took lifted her pillow. It was the photo of him that was supposed to be framed and set on top of her nightstand. His eyebrows rose as he contemplated. If she was mad at him, why would she take the photo out from the picture frame and put the photo underneath her pillow, where she can easily lift it and look at it?

He felt his lips curve upward into a smile as he stared at himself in the picture. He remembered this moment well. It was the day he became president of Capsule Corp. He wasn't close friends with Pan at that time, but somehow, she had gotten a hold of his photo that he was supposed to sign if people who had that particular picture asked for his autograph. Trunks remembered that day when he had decided to escape from the crazed fans wanting his autograph, and he had quickly turned a corner and flew to the top of the building, only to hear,

_"You lazy bum."_

_He turned around, panic present in his eyes, knowing that if the person that was on the rooftop wasn't friends or family, his saiyan side would be exposed. He was relieved when he turned to his right and saw the 15-year-old Pan, her arms crossed and her body leaning against the door that allowed people to enter the rooftop. After a moment of realization, her words sank in._

_"What did you say?"_

_The young girl smiled and pushed herself off the door toward him. "I'm kidding, Trunks." She rubbed her left arm unconsciously as she neared him until they were a few feet away from each other. "I can call you that, right? I mean it's not like you're really an adult that I have to respect and all that. I mean, look at you, you don't look very old, nor do you act very mature, so-"_

_"Hey-"_

_"Once again, I'm kidding," she interrupted, and she laughed._

_He didn't find that amusing at all, so instead, he nodded. "Yeah," he spoke cautiously, "You can call me that."_

_When she seemed to calm down from her laughter, she straightened up and extended out her arm out to him. "I'm Pan."_

_He looked at her like she was crazy. "I know who you are."_

_"Yeah, but we've never really spoken to each other after I grew old enough that you didn't need to baby-sit me, so it's like you've never really met the grown up version of me." Her arm was still extended, so he reached out and grabbed her hand and shook it. "So this is practically the first real conversation we've ever had, am I right?"_

_"Sure…"_

_"Yeah, but you know, you could at least sound like you're ecstatic you've finally met me after seven years of not baby-sitting me."_

_He smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little-"_

_"Overwhelmed of how grown up I am now? How I'm still ugly even after all these years? How anno-"_

_"You're not ugly," he said, interrupting her rambling._

_"What?"_

_"I think you're beautiful." _

_Her cheeks grew pink, and he smiled at her reaction. "What?" she repeated, her face still changing colors. Before he was able to respond though, she cut in. "How am I supposed to annoy you with my teenage ways if you're so nice all the time?"  
"It wouldn't be called 'annoying me' if I find talking to you quite amusing."_

_She was about to protest, but stopped, her mouth still slightly open. Then she closed her mouth and looked to the sky, as if thinking. After a moment, she looked back to him. "I think I like you, Trunks," she said, nodding her head up and down as if she was very sure of herself. "I feel as if you're the type of guy who would agree to my mischievous ways around the neighborhood, even if you are the next president of that Capsule company group thing that makes stuff."_

_He smirked at the girl. "Nice vocabulary."_

_"Nice glasses," she shot back._

_His eyebrows rose, and he raised his head into a slight nod, then smiled. "I think I like you too, even if you are a little rude."_

_"Hey, I can be nice too, you know." She stepped closer to him and as if to prove her point, she gave him a hug. Still hugging him, she looked up to see his reaction, her smile present. He just laughed, trying to pry her off of him. _

_"Nah, that's just weird; hugging someone you're not even familiar with."_

_"What are you talking about, mister? I'm familiar with you. I've known you since I was puny, so you're safe."_

_"I'm safe?"_

_"Yeah." She let go of him then, and smiled. "You're safe," she repeated, and then, before he was able to reply, she took something out of her pocket and gave it to him, along with a pen. "Hey, since I can tell we're going to be friends, will you sign this for me?"_

_He groaned. "Aw, not another one of these."_

_She pouted._

_He smiled_

_She laughed. "But this one's special. It's for me: your number one fan! Well, as of now, that is. Don't worry though, I'm not gonna be like those girls who sigh whenever they lay their eyes on you, or those girls who flirt with you whenever possible, or those girls who stalk you and attempt to find any information possible, like the kind of shampoo and soap you use." She poked his stomach and smiled. "Nice abs. You work out?"_

_Embarrassed, he took a small step away from her, his face turning pink. "You know, you're really not supposed to randomly see if the person you're talking to has abs or not."_

_"So you don't work out?"_

_"No- I mean yes, I do, but-"_

_"Me too, see? We have something in common, which makes our relationship special. Now sign, please," she said, once again handing him the photo and pen._

_He took it, staring at her like she was a psycho. "You are very strange, you know that?" _

_"But you still like me, don't you?"_

_He laughed. "Yeah…" He signed the picture and handed it back to her. "Here." _

_She took it and read what he wrote. _

_For Pan,_

_My #1 fan_

_- Trunks Briefs_

_"I like it," she stated, smiling. "There's a nice ring to it."_

_"You mean the rhyme?"_

_"No, our names. I can hear it now: the townspeople shouting 'Hey! It's Trunks and Pan again causing another riot in our town! Stop them!!'" She carefully put the picture in her pocket and looked at him. "But even if you do hang out with me, knowing full well that we'd probably get into trouble, I'll always know that if I ever get put into jail, you'll wait for me."_

_"What?"_

_"You'll wait until I get out so we can do stuff again, silly." She playfully punched him in the arm._

_He smiled. "Right. I'll wait for you."_

_-_

It was now midnight, and Pan still hadn't returned yet. He was getting worried, and thought about calling her, but remembered that she probably wouldn't pick up. Besides, she'd have spiked her ki up if she were in danger. Trunks had gone downstairs again, into the living room, with the remote for the TV. He was flipping through channels, and once he realized there was nothing he wanted to watch, he turned it off and lay back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. He grew tired, and before he realized what was happening, he drifted off to sleep.

-

She decided to return to her home thirty minutes after midnight. She had walked around the neighborhood, not doing anything or going anywhere in particular. Her legs were numb from the cold, and she could feel her fingertips tingling at the cool breeze. Pan quickly found her keys and after a couple of attempts to get it open, she sighed, giving up. "Stupid door," she cursed, putting her house key back in her pocket. She noticed the living room window was slightly open, and she smiled at her irresponsibility. "Finally, something good happens if I forget to do something," she mumbled to herself as she struggled to pull the window up. She went in leg first, and then carefully stepped over the bench that held her father's morning newspapers. Once she was inside, she turned around to close the window, and locked it.

It was then that she noticed someone was here. Hesitantly, she turned to her right, and there, on the couch, was a sleeping Trunks. He looked so peaceful as she stared at him, and from his light snoring, she could tell that he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. Pan walked toward him, and when she was by the couch, she kneeled and sat on her legs beneath her.

She remembered Bra had told her once that if someone were to talk to another while the person was deeply sleeping, there would still be a nice conversation. Pan wondered whether that was true. She had not been to many sleepovers, or invited people to sleep over, there wasn't an opportunity for her to test what Bra had said. As she continued to stare at the man in front of her, she found herself speaking, not to herself, but to Trunks.

"Do you think that maybe if I told you the truth, we'd still be friends?"

He didn't answer, and she found herself disappointed. Though she didn't expect him to answer anyway, but just the thought of being able to talk to him with out him being awake and remember any of it got her hopes up. She sighed and stretched her legs out to the side, then laid her back against the coffee table in front of the couch.

"You know, I expected you to leave before I came back. I took a long time." She could hear him snoring softly beside her, and she smiled. That sound was so familiar to her since she had always been the one to wake him up every morning for work, and she actually liked how he sounded when he slept. He wasn't loud, but he wasn't quiet either. It was nice. She too, was getting sleepy, but she wouldn't allow herself to fall asleep just yet. Instead, she crossed her legs, shivering from the cold, and scooted herself closer to the couch. "You've been here for like eight hours. How long would you have waited for me to come back?" She closed her eyes, and felt her head get heavy. She was tired, she knew, but she wondered whether she should get him out of the house before she went to sleep. She continued to close her eyes as she thought, drumming her fingers on her leg to keep herself awake.

"Forever."

Her eyes shot open, and she lifted her head to look to where the response came from. "Trunks?" He was still asleep though, and she had to wonder if it was just her imagination. She found out it wasn't though, when he stirred in his sleep, and mumbled,

"I'll wait forever for you."

She was speechless. She was either dreaming, or Bra had been right and Trunks really did speak to her. She saw him, so she couldn't deny that he spoke. His words touched her heart, and she rested her arms on the side of the couch, careful not to touch him, and listened to him continue to sleep.

She felt her heartbeat skip though, when she discovered that in his left hand, there was the photo that she had put underneath her pillow.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry I took a long time to put this chapter up. Did you guys notice that this chapter's long though? Anyway, I hope you liked it. It was a little tough writing this, but I'm pretty happy with the outcome of it. I didn't proof read it though, so if you catch any grammatical errors or anything like that, I apologize. As always, reviews are appreciated! 


	13. The Game of Life

Chapter 13 – The Game of Life

-

"No, I don't want to talk about it."

"Then why the heck did you wake me up?"

"Because you were snoring, and it was freakin' irritating!"

"I don't snore."

"You were asleep, you wouldn't have known."

"I can tell what happens when I'm asleep, and I'm telling you, I don't snore!"

Trunks was sitting up on the couch he was once laying in, his arms crossed stubbornly across his chest. He was being obstinate, and she was annoyed. He had woken up previously by Pan, who had accidentally given him a paper cut with the photo he had been holding when she tried to retrieve it, which had woken him up. The cut had been pretty deep, the straight red mark showing on the palm of his left hand, but he was ignoring the pain now. Instead of tending to his small wound, he put all his attention to the girl across from him, who was sitting on the coffee table. Her arms were also crossed and her legs as well, but right now, she wasn't really attentive to their conversation. Her mind was to why he had been in her room and how he found the photo. She didn't realize that he was speaking, until he gently knocked on of her feet with his.

"Pan, are you even listening?"

He had caught her off guard, and she nearly lost her balance but regained it once he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She could tell that he was amused by the look on his face, and she snatched her arm back, kicking him with a foot while doing so. The slight smile on his face was replaced with a look of pain, and she was nearly penitent for her actions, until he kicked her back, of course, more gently than hers. She frowned, and hit him again, but was only rewarded with another smack from him. Unfortunately, they were equally stubborn, and continued their kicking up until Pan shrieked, "Do you always have to have the last hit?"

He stopped himself before he hit her, and snorted. "I could ask you that same question, Ms. I-don't-pay-attention-to-my-conversations!"

"Whatever, Mr. Self-absorbed."

He pouted, sticking his bottom lip slightly above his upper one, and leaned back to the couch as if hurt by her reply. Pan stifled a laugh, and mirrored his reaction perfectly, her leaning backwards convincing enough to look as if she really were against the couch. He chuckled and grabbed her arm, once again catching her off guard. He pulled her at an angle so that she would fall on the couch next to him, and she yelped when she hit the furniture. Before she was able to react, he hit her with a pillow on her shoulder.

Pan giggled, grabbing the pillow from him and attempted to hit him back with it, but he caught it. He tried to pull it away from her, but she also pulled back, and inevitably, he tugged harder. When he did though, he pulled Pan with the pillow because of her firm grasp, and their faces came so close together that their noses bumped.

"Wow," he nearly whispered, the pillow still between them but forgotten. "Your eyes are alluring."

She pulled away instantly, and a blush formed on her cheeks. "Shut up, Trunks," she muttered almost incoherently.

"Right, I forgot that you hate me," he replied, but a smile was still evident on his face, as if he knew the girl wasn't really angry with him. He had a glint in his eyes, and he felt a smirk form on his lips as he glanced at her.

She grabbed the pillow he held and hugged it tightly with both her arms protectively, hiding her face from him. She refused to look at him, and she wasn't sure if he was upset with her for her response to his compliment. His tone of voice was convincing enough for her to believe that he was, so she shifted uncomfortably and with a small voice, spoke, "I'm sorry."

Trunks shifted his body so that he was facing her and scooted closer to her so he was close enough to grab the pillow away from her. She looked at him then, and he smiled and leaned back again so he was in his original spot. "It's not like you to say sorry." He shrugged and looked away, resting his arms on the top of the couch. "But hey, 'As Long As You Love Me."

She gave him a confused look then, and his smile grew wider. "I'm kidding. Don't you know that song?" He let his right hand that rested on top of the couch fall, and then before it hit the seat, he nudged the girl's shoulder playfully.

"Right…" She looked to the floor, then back at him, meeting his eyes. "You know, it's getting late… Don't you have work tomorrow?"

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" He lifted his legs and rested them on the coffee table. He yawned and stretched his arms out, purposely placing his arms around Pan's shoulders. He could feel her eyes on him, and he opened one of his eyes to look at her and sniggered. "I know, I know. I can take a hint; I should leave." He pulled his arm back and sighed dramatically. "But you know, you never used to tell me to leave whenever I visited." After a thought crossed his mind, he wiggled his eyebrows mischievously and spoke in a surreptitious tone. "And as you probably know, your parents are gone." He moved slowly toward her and continued, "So we're alone. In your house." He stopped moving when he could feel her breath on his face, and he inwardly smiled at her tenseness. "Maybe you want me to leave because you were thinking of something risqué," he spoke, gently running his fingers down her arm that was closest to him.

She involuntarily shivered by his touch, and as emotionlessly as she could manage, she spoke. "And I'm supposed to know what that Spanish word means?"

"It's French." He couldn't help but crack a smile at her response.

"Like that makes a difference."

"But you know what it means, right?"

"I would if you'd get off of me so I can think straight."

"Does that mean you're thinking gay right now?"

"Don't be stupid."

"I'm not even on you," he changed the subject.

"You're in my invisible bubble."

"Why did you change the subject to _this_," he waved his hand in the space between their faces, referring to her 'invisible bubble'. "The subject I brought up was much more facetious."

"I don't even know what you're _talking_ about, Trunks," she spoke, the volume of her voice rising as she began to become frustrated. "Can you maybe 'dumb it up' a little so even _I_ can understand you?"

"'I said I had a dirty mouth'."

"What?"

"It's part of a song."

She half-smiled, and nodded her head. "Oh, I see how it is." She couldn't tell she was leaning closely as she spoke her next words, playing along with his game. "'Are we having fun yet?'"

"'Remind me'," he spoke, and rested his hands on her knees.

She laughed, putting one hand on his hand that was on her left knee. "Isn't it called 'How You Remind Me', not 'Remind Me'?"

"Who cares? It was close." He took his left hand off of her right knee and placed it on top of her hand that was one top of his. When she put her free hand on top of his hand that he just moved, he nearly cursed but covered it up quickly.

"I meant to say 'darn'," he said, but she shook her head.

"Nah, you swore, Trunks. You know, you're not a really good example for me," she teased, a glint visible in her eyes. "Did you even have a reason to swear?"

"Yes, you won," he said as if it were obvious. "I was supposed to win."

"I wasn't aware we were playing a game."

"Well, we were. Whoever's hand goes on top last wins." He felt her pull her hands away, but before she was able to, he grabbed them. Then he pulled his bottom hand and rested it on top of her hand, and smiled widely. "I win."

She scoffed. "Cheater."

"'I wouldn't cheat on you'," he recited.

She laughed, this time pulling her hands away successfully. "Now we're back to this 'song' game, huh?"

"Of course. Jeez, you're slow," he said jokingly, and she hit his knee for his remark.

"'Hit me baby one more time'!"

Pan burst out laughing, burying her face in her hands as her body shook uncontrollably. She felt his hands on her shoulders, and she looked up, meanwhile trying very hard to regain her regular breathing. "I'm dying!" she joked, and she saw him smile at her, but his smile didn't last long.

She stopped then and stared, questioning him.

"'You light up my life," he breathed, and Pan slightly tilted her head to the side, confused.

"Is that a song?" she asked him, slowly falling to the side to rest on the couch. His hands on her shoulders followed her as she rested on the couch, and she giggled, watching as he was forced to lean against the couch on his side too.

Trunks grinned. "No. Maybe… I don't know." He let go of her shoulders but didn't get up from the couch. He stayed there, his hands resting on his lap and the two just stared at each other then. "You're not –" he stopped, deciding to reword his sentence. "Are you – Um... Do you-"

"Yup. Uh huh."

He smiled, feeling embarrassed. "You don't even know what the question was."

She sat up then, and he followed suit. Then she stretched her arms out and positioned herself so she could slouch on the couch. "So? You were taking too long, and I'm sleepy."

"Why can't we be friends anymore?"

She stopped breathing for a split second, not prepared for his question. "Trunks, I…"

"You can't say that we're not getting along, because we are, and if you're denying that, then why is it that I'm still here?"

She didn't turn to meet his eyes, knowing he was staring right at her. His voice sounded almost pleading, but she didn't want to think about his tone right about now. She knew that if she were to think more on that, she would give in, but that wasn't what she wanted, or needed to do.

"Because… I just…" Truthfully, she didn't know what to say. She was timid as she spoke quietly, which wasn't a good combination for her at this point. He was winning this verbal battle between them, and being the businessman he is, he had facts to back up his reasoning. Pan continued with her response slowly. "I don't want us to be."

He raised an eyebrow at her as if he didn't believe that were true. "Are you expecting me to believe that?" He laughed bitterly. "I mean really, who are you trying to kid? I'm not stupid, Pan, I know you better than anyone else, and I can tell that you don't mean that." He leaned closer to her and with a gentle voice, spoke. "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid of anything."

"That's a lie."

"No it's not," she argued.

"You're afraid of the dark."

"So? You're afraid of…"

He smirked, knowing she couldn't think of anything. "Yeah? Go ahead. What am I afraid of?"

Then she looked at him, annoyed. "Okay, so I can't think of anything right now, but do you know what?"

"What?"

"You need to leave. It's not normal for someone to visit at this hour."

He stood up, and crossed his arms, watching as she stood as well. "Fine," he spoke, and he slowly walked to the front door. He felt her hands on his shoulder blades, pushing him along, and he could imagine her struggle, as he didn't increase his speed just to spite her. She gave up when he was steps by the door, and leaned against the wall to watch him.

He placed his hand on the doorknob, and gently turned it, but didn't walk out just yet. He turned around, the door still slightly opened, and faced her. "So you're never going to tell me what the problem between us is? 'Cause I still don't-"

"I fell in love with you." The words came automatic, out of her mouth in an instant without her control. "It's a song," she quickly spoke, and nervously shifted her weight to one leg. She mentally slapped herself for her outburst, feeling her face heat up with embarrassment.

He tried to smile then, but for some reason, it was forced and he didn't know why. "Yeah, I think I've heard that one somewhere." He really didn't though, but he had to say something, and that was the only thing that came to mind. "So… You're not going to answer my question?"

She rubbed her arm unconsciously and looked to the floor, then to him. "I'd rather play the song game than 'play' the game of life."

He nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that," he spoke quietly, but she knew he meant every word he said. To her, his reply was spat out to her, mocking her. His words held meaning; that she would rather run from her problems than face it.

"So am I," she murmured, and then he was out the door.

-

A/N: Whew, I'm done with that chapter. Well, I hope you guys like it… The next chapter will probably be out soon because I already finished it. lol. I just need to make sure there aren't any mistakes and stuff like that. Anyway, I really appreciate the reviews in the last chapter. They even got me to smile. lol. It made my day, after coming home from school and stuff and having to do a crud load of homework. :)


	14. Caught in the Corner

Chapter 14 - Caught In The Corner

-

He stood at the balcony in his room, breathing in the cool, fresh air. It was approximately five o'clock – the time he would usually be up waken up by a very buoyant girl who can somehow get into his home without a set of keys or tools whatsoever. He couldn't help but yearn for the day she would come back into his life and annoy the daylights out of him by being his alarm clock. He'd admit that he had been late about three times without her to wake him up. It seems as if he would unconsciously throw his alarm clock across the room every morning, and he would be unaware of this until his own mother yelled at him from his phone, telling him that he was late again. Trunks sighed and turned back to his room, closing the balcony doors behind him. He was careful not to trip over his briefcase as he prepared himself for another day at work.

He headed down the stairs after taking a quick shower. Briefcase in one hand, he quickened his pace as he glanced at the clock against the wall. He was about to pass his kitchen, when a small brown bag caught his eye. This wasn't there the night before, and he hesitantly took a step toward it. With his briefcase, he gently hit it, as if it were dangerous. He didn't hear any 'ticking' like a time bomb though, and he decided it was safe. Setting his briefcase on the table, he grabbed the bag and opened it slowly.

The contents in the bag amazed him. It was food! Since he woke up so late, he wasn't able to make himself lunch without assistance from Pan. The only question he had now though, was who set this on his table? He wasn't able to think more of this, realizing the time, and he hastily grabbed the bag and his briefcase, and ran out the door, accidentally slamming it in the process.

He would have flown to his office; this would be faster, but he didn't want to risk losing any loose paperwork tucked in the pockets of his Manila paper folder. So as he ran the streets of the town, his hair becoming windblown, he counted the seconds he was wasting. He quickly glanced at his watch. It read 5:25 a.m. Five minutes to get into his office and prepare for the upcoming meeting at 6:00. He turned sharply around a corner, collided into someone, and landed on his back on the hard ground, his paperwork scattering. He sharply inhaled, trying to recover, and he heard a girl speak.

"Crap! Not again! Stupid frickin' corner. I should blast it into a million pieces!"

Trunks groaned all the while listening to the person he had collided into curse the corner, watching his documents becoming dirty and stained with mud. He rubbed the side of his head, feeling a bruise. It was then that he recognized the voice that threatened the building beside them. He quickly sat up, and peered at the young woman in front of him. She too, was on the floor, her eyes shut tight as she rubbed her head in pain.

She didn't even seem to know the slightest clue as to whom she bumped into. Without opening her eyes, she kept rubbing her head, and spoke. "Look, whoever you are, I'm sorry I hit you with my head."

Her apology didn't sound too sincere, and Trunks found himself smiling at her behavior.

"I did the same thing to someone quite recently actually, and I have come to figure out that every single time I'm in a hurry, this happens! Kami must hate me."

She still didn't open her eyes to look at him, but he didn't speak, knowing she would instantly flutter them open once he did. Instead, he waited.

"But you know what? You must be in a hurry too, because I wouldn't have been laying on the ground like I am now, and my head wouldn't be spinning, and I wouldn't feel dizzy, and I… I feel like I'm cursed or something." She opened her eyes and stared at the sky. "It's so early. The sun's barely up, and yet I am. Why? I don't know." She gave out a small laugh. "I don't even know why I went through so much trouble doing what I did." She sighed. "I'm Pan. Who are you?" She decided to get up, pushing her body up with her arms behind her.

When their eyes met, she lost her friendly smile, and her mouth slightly opened. "I know you."

Trunks gave her a small smile, but it vanished quickly when she looked to the floor. She became quiet, and he could feel his nose tingle by her sudden reticence. He didn't know why it hurt him just when she looked away from him. Then, unexpectedly, he saw her glance at the paper bag he still had in his hands. Her cheeks seemed to flush, but he wasn't so sure whether it was because of the bag, or because of the cold. He knew his cheeks were slightly pink from the wind that blew across his face when had been running. Maybe it was because she was the one who gave it to him. She was out pretty early, and none of the stores were open yet, except for the 24-hour businesses and Capsule Corp.

"What trouble did you go through so early in the morning?" He asked softly. He watched as she shrugged and shifted her body so that her knees touched the ground instead, and picked up some of the important papers that had scattered. Most of the documents were near her, and when she held them all in her hands, she slowly trailed her eyes to his blue ones. Then, she stood up and at a leisurely pace, walked toward him. Once she was just inches away from his feet, she held out her free hand.

He seemed to be suspicious of her actions at first, glancing at her hand, and then back to her eyes. Finally, he grasped it and was pulled up. Pan's hand quickly retreated, and the other gave him back his paperwork. Then, before he was able to thank her, she attempted to walk past him, brushing past his left shoulder. Trunks caught her in time though, grabbing her arm that was closest to him, and he felt her whole arm stiffen by his touch. He didn't pull her back roughly like he had when he was angry with her the day before. He didn't need to, as Pan had turned around herself, though she didn't meet his gaze.

"You didn't answer my question," he told her plainly, a hopeful look planted on his face.

"I… I was just heading out here anyway, and I um… Thought you might need something to eat, so I…" She rubbed her arms nervously as she stammered, her voice just above a whisper.

"You made lunch for me?"

"I didn't say that." She rubbed the bruise she had gotten on the back of her head, and bit her bottom lip. "I just…" Before she answered though, she gazed at his attire, then looked back to meet his eyes. "You're going to be late for work."

He seemed to have accepted her answer, at least for now, when his eyes widened, and he quickly pulled up his sleeve to look at his watch. "Holy crap, you're right!" He groaned and touched a sore spot on his head. "I have a meeting to go to!" Then, without thinking, he took a big step toward her and leaned his head closer to hers. When she slightly backed away from their sudden closeness, he realized his mistake. "I… I just…" He blushed, embarrassed from his previous actions. He'd become so accustomed to kissing her on her cheek whenever he'd leave, that he had forgotten their friendship had shattered many weeks before. "I just sort of forgot," he breathed out, both their heads so close they could feel each other's face heat up.

"You… You forgot what?" She didn't move away from him, probably because she was paralyzed in her spot, but he wasn't sure.

"Forgot."

"Forgot what?" She repeated, looking from his lips to his eyes and Trunks noticed this. His face flushed even more reddish color, and the palms of his hands were beginning to sweat. This was unusual, seeing as Trunks was rarely so nervous that he would sweat. Why was it that when Pan looked at him now, it made him this way? Never once had it made him nervous to the point that he would feel butterflies in the pit of his stomach.

He mentally shook himself from his thoughts and quickly spoke in a sort-of fast and nervous tone. "I forgot what I forgot, jeez, you don't have to be so assertive!" At this point, he didn't know what to do. So he did what popped up in his mind first: he ran to Capsule Corp. He wasn't aware that by the speed of his running and the wind that had happened to blow to the opposite direction he was going, he dropped a very important and necessary document for his meeting.

Pan raised an eyebrow and found herself smiling at his behavior. When she realized he lips were curving upwards into a true smile, which was the first one in a long time, she quickly shook her head, ridding of it. She knew that for some reason, she was allowing herself to get close to him again. Should she just end their friendship here, or let it build up to where it once was before their fight? Before she was able to come to a conclusion, a piece of paper landed right on her feet, and she frowned, picking it up.

"Trunks, you're so irresponsible."

-

A/N: There, a small T/P moment. Yeah, it's a short chapter… I hope you guys will be happy with it. Lol. I had fun writing this chapter, and I hope you have fun reading it. Reviews make me happy! hint hint Haha.. Just kidding... Review if you have the time! Or if you feel like it... Just as long as you do, I will update for you!


	15. Technical Difficulties

Chapter 15 – Technical Difficulties

-

She walked the direction where she had seen him run off to, the document held tightly in her hands. _There's nothing wrong with giving this back to him,_ she thought as Capsule Corp. came into view. _After this, I will, for sure, never see him again. It's just going to be a one-second thing; shove the paper in his face, tell him he's stupid, and go. It was simple, and easy. Not to mention fun to see his reaction… Wait… _She shook her head ridding her previous thought. Pan hated herself at the moment. She despised her thoughts and her uncontrollable feelings and how sometimes she found herself wanting to be near him. But this didn't count as an excuse for seeing him. _I might just be able to drop it off at the front desk and they'll give it to him. If that doesn't work, then I'll be forced to hand it to him personally. _Well, this wasn't personal, she decided. It was business related, so it didn't matter. Of course, she _did_ make him lunch… That was the last time though; the final lunch she would make early in the morning. It was meant for closure… Wasn't it?

When the entrance to the building was right at her fingertips, she realized she had been holding a breath as she stared through the glass doors. She sighed and deeply inhaled, preparing for the last time she would ever see her best friend. Or… Ex-best friend. It didn't matter anyway. So she pulled the golden colored door handle and stepped inside, feeling the air conditioning right away. It was comfortable, but it made her feel out of place. Everyone in the building was well dressed in their business attire, and here she was in jeans and a nice t-shirt.

Pan quickly walked to the front desk and smiled when greeted. "Hi, I'm Pan Son, and I just came here to drop off a business document that um… _Mr. Briefs_ needs for his meeting today that starts in…" She checked her wristwatch and continued. "Uh… Now."

The woman smiled at her and nodded. "Right. He had sent his personal secretary to find another copy of it, but she was unable to, so thank you for taking the time to return it." She was able to grab the paper from Pan, but the phone rang just when she reached her arm out. The woman pulled back with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, but would you mind giving that to him? I'm a little busy."

Pan sighed. "Okay…" She didn't mean to sound rude, but she couldn't help it. It wasn't like she wanted to give it to him anyway. She slowly walked to the elevator doors, and when she was in front of it, she pressed the arrow that pointed upwards, knowing where Trunks' office was. She had gone there many times before, without anyone seeing her, and now that she didn't need to hide, it was much easier to get around the building and find his office.

The elevator bell sounded, and staring at the document, reading some of what it said, she walked in and turned to face the doors. She lifted her head from the paper and watched as the doors shut closed. Then, she realized that she wasn't the only one in the elevator. She glanced at the man next to her, only to find that he had lavender hair and he looked exactly like Trunks.

"Holy crap!" She shrieked, jumping a small step to the wall beside her. "Don't scare me like that! And what are you doing here anyway?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, and leaned against the golden railings, facing her. "I was just standing here, and if you still don't know by now, I work here."

He wasn't wearing the glasses that made him look nerdy, she noticed, and she found herself staring at him. She quickly looked away and cleared her throat.

"Right… I knew that…" It was then that she remembered the reason why she had come here. She handed him the paper she was holding, and spoke. "Here, you dropped this earlier, and I figured you might need it."

He reached his arm out and took the paper from her, smiling sheepishly. "Yeah, that's why I'm in this elevator; I came here to retrace my steps."

"Well duh, why else would you be here? I mean really, this place is nice, but not as nice as your office."

"Actually," he spoke, raising his eyebrow and giving her an I-know-something-you-don't-know look. "People can get coffee here." He pointed to a small door, and as if to prove himself, he opened it, revealing a dispenser full of cups and a maroon colored button that read 'Caution: Hot'.

She shook her head and chided him. "Really, you people are obsessed with caffeinated beverages."

"Hey, there's also _de_caffeinated coffee-"

His answer was cut short when the elevator stopped moving. A low rumbling sound was heard, followed by a jerk from the elevator to the right, causing Pan to almost bump into Trunks, who was against the side of the wall.

Pan grabbed the railings behind her and slowly looked up to the man beside her. "Why did… What's going on?"

He made eye contact with her, and instantly knew that she was frightened. Truthfully, he didn't know what was happening, and he was just as confused and scared as she was, but admitting this would only make matters worse. He had to stay calm so Pan would too. With a sure voice, he did his best to sound like he was positive of his reasoning. "It's just… Technical difficulties, that's all. There's nothing to be worried about."

As if on cue, the lights flickered, and before they were able to even look up at the lights above them, darkness surrounded them. The power was out.

"Oh… My…. Go-"

"Pan?"

She didn't answer right away, and he had to wonder whether she had fainted or not. After a few seconds, she spoke with a squeaky voice, "What?"

"You're not claustrophobic, are you?"

"No…"

"Are you still afraid of the dark?"

She didn't answer, and he had to assume that he was correct, but before he was able to say more, the elevator jerked downwards, and he heard Pan shriek. He felt her grab his left arm, holding it very tightly, and he could feel the circulation of his blood flow on his arm slowing down.

"Now there's no need to panic, Pan, it's just a little-"

"Shut up, Trunks, there _is_ a _need_ to panic, you ignorant dolt, so don't try to deceive me into thinking that nothing's wrong!" She seemed to squeeze his arm tighter at that, and he could feel her unsteady breathing through the fabric of his business shirt.

"Hey, if you're going to insult me like that, then maybe I'll not give you permission to hold my arm!" He had forgotten that he was supposed to calm her down, but his words were already spoken. When she didn't answer like he had expected her to, he felt penitent, and was about to apologize, when the elevator rocked to the side again.

He heard the girl beside him gasp, and felt her breathing quicken. "Kami, why didn't I learn instant transmission like Grandpa Goku? Now because of this, we're going to die!"

"No one's going to die," he spoke, but even he was unsure of what may come. There was a red flashing light above them, and when they looked to it, the small sign that read 'emergency' was present. The light flashed every five seconds, and after the fifth red light, he decided to go toward it and find an emergency speaker.

Pan pulled him back though, and before he was able to protest, she spoke with a shaky voice. "Don't leave me."

He would have smiled if they weren't in this situation, but since they were now, he grabbed her hand that was clutching his shirt to soothe her. "I'm just going to see if I can get in contact with anyone. No one would know that we're stuck here if we don't try."

She hesitantly loosened her grip on him, and he opened a small compartment and pressed a button. "Hello? Can anyone hear me? We're in dire need of assista-"

"Don't be so formal Trunks!" she shouted at him, and directing her reply to the speaker, she shouted, "Help! We're going to die! Save us, you good-for-nothing-di-"

"Pan, they're not going to save us if you curse at them!" Trunks interrupted. He released the button so the other line could reply. When nothing was heard, he pushed the button again, but the only response to that was a constant beeping dead tone. He felt his body go numb at that, and he was sure Pan knew what that meant too. "Something must have disconnected the line…"

He was sure her face was pale when the red light continued to blink on and off. Soon, he heard her breathing raggedly, and then, before he was able to prepare himself, she screamed. "Dende, we're going to die!!" She grabbed his arm, and tugged on it so he'd come closer to her, and then she buried her face in his chest. "I'm sorry I've been such a jerk to you Trunks, and I'm so sorry that we weren't able to make up before our deaths, and I'm sorry I put a hole in your home and covered it up with a big painting and forgot to tell you, and-"

"You put a hole in my wall?" he interrupted, but she went on anyway.

"I'm sorry that I hurt you, and I'm sorry for lying to you, and-"

"Pan, it's okay, just stop with your rambling." He almost had to pry her off his arm before she let go – well, loosened her grip at least. "Now," he said, putting his hands on top of her shoulders. "Look me in the eyes and trust that when I say we're not going to die, we aren't."

"But-"

"Just do it."

"But I can't see you."

He nearly laughed. "You're impossible."

"Just hold me."

He couldn't contain his laughter this time, but when he let his guard down, the elevator shifted dangerously downward, and they both fell to the floor. He landed next to Pan, their heads close to a corner. He groaned, feeling the second bruise on his head he had gotten this day. Right when they were getting up, the elevator shifted yet again, but this time more violently, and Pan fell on top of him awkwardly, that it looked like she was straddling his waist. Her legs were on either side of him, and her hands were on either side of his head. She didn't get up from her position though, because she was much too scared, but he really didn't care about their position.

As he stared into Pan's frightened eyes, the elevator went upwards, and he felt the girl grab onto his shirt.

"Kami, this is the end!" she wailed, and before he could respond, she went on. "I just want to tell you that we're friends now, okay? I don't want to be mad at you anymore, because we're going to die anyway, and I'm sorry for waiting so long to be friends again! I was being stupid, and unreasonable, and I want to be friends, so let's be friends for this short moment before we die!"

Just after she finished her panicked rambling, they both heard the elevator _ding,_ and the doors opened. They looked to the now open door and there, standing in front of them, were several reporters, co-workers, business associates, and Marron.

The two could feel the tension growing, and after a few seconds of staring at the crowd, they looked at each other and realized the position that they were in.

"Uh oh… We're definitely dead…"

-

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, you guys, it's nice reading them after a long day from school and stuff. Oh yeah, sorry if I put Marron in a lot of scenes in the past chapters. I'll remember to not go into so much with Marron in the future. Thanks for reading! I hope this chapter was okay…


	16. Guilt

Chapter 16 – Guilt

-

_I feel guilty. Every part of me feels numb, and I can't breathe._

"Marron, I can explain."

Trunks was right behind Marron, who was quickly walking away. Pan was following the two, feeling she was to blame for the whole ordeal. It was she who had been scared, and she felt stupid for being afraid. Unfortunately, as she was blaming herself for their situation, she hadn't noticed when the couple in front of her stopped walking, and she bumped into Trunks. She met Marron's eyes, but it was only a short moment as the blonde turned back to look at her boyfriend.

"You don't need to explain, Trunks," she spoke, surprisingly calm. She laughed bitterly. "I'm not mad, and I don't need to hear words that don't matter, because I'm aware of the whole situation."

"Then why do you look distressed?" he asked softly.

Marron shook her head. "It's nothing. You're already late for your meeting, Trunks. You know the company can't afford to miss out on this opportunity." Marron gently turned him around to the elevators he had just come out of with Pan, and gave him a small push. "Don't worry about me, okay?"

Pan felt invisible as she watched the couple. Of course, she didn't want to interfere on their conversation and make things worse. She had already made the relationship between them unstable, and she didn't want to be the cause of their breakup. She watched as Trunks hesitantly stepped away, then when Marron waved a hand at him to usher him to go, he gave her a concerned look, but did as she said.

When he went in the elevators, he looked back at them. Shortly later, the elevator doors closed and Marron turned to Pan. For a moment she just stared at the girl but after a few moments, she looked at her feet and walked past her.

Pan didn't know what to do. Here she was, waiting for the moment Marron would yell at her, yet she just left. She had been anticipating her yelling, screaming, threats even, but here she was, her hearing still intact. Even so, Pan didn't feel right. In fact, she felt guilty, even though she had not done anything wrong. So she went after the blonde.

"Marron, wait," she quickly spoke, running to catch up to her. She put a hand on her shoulder when she was right behind her, and Marron turned around.

"What is it, Pan?" she asked quietly.

Pan opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She stared at the woman's face that looked pained. Marron was breathing heavily, as if she had just run a marathon, and Pan's hand retreated. "I um…"

Marron interrupted her before she could even find the words to say. "I'm busy Pan, I don't have time to talk to you. I have to go." She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, then opened her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said before she walked away.

So Pan watched as she left, but when she was about to give up and leave, she saw Marron pushed the bathroom doors open and quickly walk in. For a split second, Pan just stood there again, but then before she knew it, she was running to the bathroom doors that Marron had just gone into. Her heart was racing, but she didn't know why. She just knew something wasn't right. Pan pushed the doors open.

"Marron, I-" She couldn't finish her sentence. All the words she was just about to say to the blonde was forgotten when she found Marron on the floor by the sink, her hands in her hair, and her forehead on her knees, crying. Medicine bottles were on the counter and half of the contents were spilled on the floor, the bottle lying on its side, it's cap about a foot away.

Pan ran to her and fell to her knees to get level with her. "Kami, Marron, what… Why are you…" she couldn't form complete sentences and she took in a breath before she attempted to speak again. "What's this?" she asked in a shaky voice, referring to the medicine bottles that were visible in her purse and the one on the counter with some of its contents on the floor.

Marron shook her head, and lifted her head from her hands and rested on the wall behind her. One of her legs lazily dropped parallel to the floor. She breathed heavily and closed her eyes, then after a few seconds, she wiped her tears away with her sleeve and opened her eyes to stare at the tile floors. "Pan, don't bother me," she whispered. Her eyes slowly turned to meet Pan's concerned and frightened stare, and sighed heavily. Then, with gentle voice, she spoke, "Don't worry about me."

Pan blinked. Then she quickly stood up and grabbed her cell phone from her pocket. "I gotta get Trunks to help," she said in a panicky voice.

"No," Marron quickly got up and grabbed Pan's cell phone and closed it. "I told you, I'm fine. Don't get him worried about me over this! I don't need-"

"What's wrong, Marron?"

She sighed. "Nothing."

Pan persisted, repeating her question. "What's wrong?"

Marron grabbed the medicine bottle on the counter and slowly started to pick up the pills that were on the floor. Then, when she was finished, she said quietly, "I'm dying, Pan."

-

_Maybe this was a sign; a sign telling me to back off, no matter how much it hurt. I can't help but feel guilty of everything and anything that happened between _her_ and her relationship with my best friend. I was sworn to secrecy of her illness and since I didn't want to make her unhappy and cause more problems in her relationship, I accepted it. But I can't help but feel every inch of my being pricked by millions of needles that I imagined whenever I thought about her situation. Thinking about her made me think about him. And thinking about him made me think about my feelings for him. I knew I had fallen in love with him. I knew that a part of me wanted to run from my problems, but another part of me wanted to stay because I love being close to him. But right now, I didn't. I don't want to be anywhere near him because I was scared of ruining everything, but Marron told me that no matter what, I needed to stay. I needed to be friends with him. I didn't understand why she wanted me to be there, but I promised her I would. She had enough problems already. But I feel guilty._

-

A/N: I'm sorry I took a long time. I'll admit, I had many breaks from writing, but those breaks don't really count as breaks because I was doing school homework. But I hope you guys liked the chapter. I'm not really sure if you guys will though because I know some of you really despise Marron, and maybe you wanted Marron to be really mean and unfair, but (hehe) you guys probably already know my writing style. I like to keep things realistic, and in my opinion, having Marron be who she is in most T/P stories (all crazy and going ballistic) isn't very real. BUT WAIT, don't hate me! Lol. It's not that I like the character Marron and I want her to be with Trunks (I too don't like writing their names together, believe it or not), but I have a reason for all of this, and I think you people who want Marron to fall off a cliff or something will like the later chapters of this story when Trunks 'forgets' the definition of 'only friends', but that's all I'm going to say about that. So… Please review…? And don't hate me… please… hehe….

Oh yeah, if you guys are confused, the italics Pan thinking. So since she was thinking about being guilty already before you actually read why she feels guilty, this chapter's kind-of sorta a flashback.


	17. Would You Hate Me?

Chapter 17 – Would You Hate Me?

-

_Have you ever thought you were dreaming because what was happening to you now was too good to be true? I thought I was, but the next day when I woke up, I realized I wasn't. And I'm glad I'm not dreaming… For the most part._

-Trunks

"Wake up, lazy."

He groaned, turning so he was on his side.

"Come on, Mr. Briefs, you're gonna be late… Again."

He pulled the covers up closer to his chin and sighed contently, ignoring whoever was speaking to him.

"It's not polite to be ignoring someone, you know."

At last, he couldn't take it anymore. He groaned again, this time more loudly in exasperation, and said in a indolent tone, "It's not polite to be waking people up so early this morning either, Pan, so if I were you, I'd-" He didn't finish his sentence. His eyes shot open; realizing whom it was that was speaking to him in his room. He rolled so that he was facing the direction the voice came from, and his eyes met familiar brown ones. "Pan?" he asked, sitting up from his spot and rubbing the tiredness from his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

She smiled as if he had said something funny, and shrugged. "What, am I not allowed to be here?" Pan was sitting on the chair next to his bed, her legs elevated and resting on top of the desk, next to his cell phone. She pulled her legs back and stood up, grabbing his cell phone while doing so and opened it. Then she walked to the middle of his room and lay there in an odd position. The cell phone, still opened, was lying on the ground too, next to her opened hand where she had placed it before closing her eyes. "Look Trunks, I've been practicing. Doesn't this look convincing?" she asked, referring to her position on the floor. "If I were bleeding, I bet I'd look like I'm dead for sure, don't you think?"

She opened her eyes when he didn't answer, and looked at him. "Come on, Trunks, humor me at least. I've been practicing, and-"

"Pan," he interrupted, staring right at her.

She blinked. "What?"

He shook his head, as if snapping himself out of a trance. Then he smiled softly and looked away. "Nothing."

Pan raised her eyebrows and reached for the cell phone on the ground. "Okay," she said slowly. "I think you're losing it, Mr. Briefs. You should take a break from work or something, you know? You're stressing yourself too much and now you can't remember things like what you're going to say next. I mean really, I was paying very close attention to what you were gonna say to me, but you forgot just like that," she snapped her fingers for effect. "I feel sorry for you, Trunks, I really do."

He laughed, watching her press the buttons on his cell phone, and got up from his bed, stretching his arms above his head. "What time is it," he asked, changing the subject.

"Three."

He froze and stared at her. "What?"

"Three," she repeated, sitting up from her spot.

"Holy crap, Pan! I still have an hour to sleep!" He fell on his back and pulled the covers over his head. "What are you trying to do, make me go to work early when I don't have to??"

"But…"

He could detect the disappointment in her voice, and he opened his eyes, though he could only see his blanket, as it was still over his head. "What is it?"

"I just…" She sighed. "I um… I couldn't sleep…"

He pushed the covers off of him worriedly, and let his legs fall to the side of his bed. He got up and made eye contact with her. She looked away instantly. "Okay, who died?"

Pan winced.

He noticed.

"Pan?"

She tried to smile and she forced a laugh but instead, her laughter became sobs. She turned her head so he wouldn't see her, but he already knew that she was crying. When she felt his hand on her leg, she pulled away and wiped her tears away.

"Tell me what's wrong," he whispered, but she shook her head.

Pan knew she couldn't tell him the truth. Marron didn't want him to know about her illness, and she didn't want to betray her. So besides telling him the truth, she was going to lie. "I… I just missed you… That's all."

He laughed. "Is that it? Jeez, you scared me for a second." He pulled her in an embrace and breathed in her hair. He felt her tense for a moment, but he thought nothing of it. "Is there anything you wanted to talk about?"

She tried to control herself, but she couldn't. "Trunks, if I… If I kept something from you, would you hate me?"

He was confused. "What?" Maybe there was something more than missing him that made her this shaken up. He rubbed her arm when she felt her shiver and contemplated. Was she talking about what happened after the elevator incident when he left Marron and her alone?

"Would you hate me, Trunks? If I kept something important from you?" she whispered.

"I would never hate you, Pan," he spoke, careful with his words.

"If it was _really_ important? Really… Important…"

"Why wouldn't you be able to tell me?"

Pan pulled away from him and wiped her tears away again. "Answer the question, Trunks." Her tone was unlike her tone previously. This one was more of a… warning. It sounded like if he were not to answer, she would close up on him and separate her life from his again.

He didn't know what to say. If he was right about the tone of her words, he might regret not answering the question. But he really didn't want to answer her question. He didn't want to lie to her. He knew that if he said 'no', it might not be true. He wasn't going to kid himself. He knew that he couldn't control his feelings. Though he didn't want to hate her, he didn't know if he would truly feel that way deep down.

"Why can't you tell me?" he repeated.

That was when she stood up and walked to the door of his room to leave. Trunks quickly got up too, and grabbed her hand, turning her around. Their faces were dangerously close to eachother but right now, he didn't care. "Pan, what is it?" She was breathing rapidly onto his skin, and he felt the hairs on his arm stand straight up.

Pan tried to back away from him, but he followed her until she was against the closed door. "Let go of me," she whispered shakily.

"Tell me what's wrong."

She struggled to free her hand from his but couldn't. She closed her eyes and tried to stop the tears forming in her eyes. "I hate you," she whispered. She felt his hold on her hand loosen, as if he were hurt from her comment.

"No you don't," he replied.

"Trunks, I'm serious. Let me go."

"I'm serious too."

She stepped closer to him until her forehead rested on his chest, and surprised, he let go of her hand. "Don't make me," she whispered. "I can't tell you. I want to tell you because I know it's really important that you know, but I just can't. And I hate that I can't."

He wrapped his arms around her shaking body. He didn't know what to say to her. Here she was, in his room crying… It seemed so much like the last time he'd seen her here except this time he was with her. But he still didn't know why she was crying, and she wouldn't let him know.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in his shirt.

He laughed bitterly. "I don't even know why you're apologizing, Pan."

This time he had hurt her. She pulled back from him and for a moment, she looked into his eyes. Then she turned around and put her hand on the doorknob to leave, but he didn't let her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Trunks, stop it." She rested her forehead on the door and cried. "Why is it that every time I want to leave, you force me to stay?" Pan gripped her hand on the doorknob and formed a fist with the other. "Do you think I _like_ being here when you're mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you."

She turned around then and shoved him, but he didn't fall. "Kami, Trunks, do you know what I hate most? When you tell me you're not mad at me when in reality, you really are! I can handle the truth, Trunks, believe me. I'm an adult now-"

"Barely."

Her mouth slightly hung open, shocked at what he had said to her. He had never said anything bad about her before like he had now. Pan wiped a tear away and exhaled deeply through her mouth. She wanted to leave. So she turned around again, but felt him grab both of her arms this time. She gritted her teeth, furious of his actions.

She cursed, which surprised him, and he let go instantly. Instead of quickly opening the door and running away, she turned around and shoved him again, this time with more force. He stumbled backwards and caught his fall before he could have contact with the ground. "If _you're_ such an adult, Trunks, _why_ aren't you letting me leave before we start fighting again??"

"Because I miss you, darn it!"

She placed her hands on his shoulders to push him again, but he grabbed her wrists before she was able to push him. "So that gives you the right to act childish??"

He felt her struggle to free herself from his grasp, but for some reason, he didn't want to let go. Instead, he strengthened his hold on her. "Yes," he said harshly. "I think it does give me the right to act childish!"

"Well, I don't think it does, Trunks!" she continued to try to free herself, but she knew she couldn't. Not unless he decided to let go by himself. "I think you're just being stupid and unlike yourself!"

"'Unlike myself'??" he scoffed. "How would you know how I am?? Do you think I'm still the same person before our fight a while before?" he laughed bitterly and continued. "How are you so sure that I didn't change from the time you were avoiding me?"

She stopped struggling then. "Because I know you."

He almost let go of her. She could have broken free by now, but she didn't.

"Don't you expect me to know you?" she suddenly became quiet. "I was your best friend, Trunks."

"So we're not friends anymore?"

"We are."

"It's just not the same though."

She sighed. "I know."

"Why?" he asked.

Pan smiled faintly and met his dark blue eyes. "There's just… Too many reasons why."

He let go of her, and she stepped closer to him. When she thought she was close enough, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him, but he didn't return the hug. Finally, she stepped back and forced a smile. Then she turned around to leave.

"Pan, wait." He watched her stop, her hand still on the doorknob. He was quiet then, but after a moment, he said, "I wouldn't hate you."

-

A/N: Sort of a bittersweet moment there. I didn't proof-read this, so I apologize if there are a few grammatical errors. Sorry I took so long by the way. Thanks for being patient with me. :) I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

I really appreciate the reviews, although there was one that I really didn't like, and so I'll just go ahead and defend us T/P fans, even though I'm sure that person probably wouldn't come back and read what I have to say to them. If you're confused, just read my reviews. I'm pretty sure you'll know what I'm talking about the moment you read that specific one.

Okay. So starting off with the age difference: I actually have a relative that married someone 14 years older than her. My aunt is 14 years younger than her husband, and I'll just have to say that they are happily married, and they've been married for almost 20 years. And if you really hate Pan that much, why are you here to bash people that don't hate her? If someone didn't like a certain person, would they go around to that person's friends and say things like 'That person sucks, why do you like them so much?" I don't think so. If you really are that kind of person, that's just really sad. The other reasons listed for why Pan and Trunks shouldn't be together are just really immature, so I'm not even going to bother with those.

I really don't mind having constructive criticism here, but really, this one review isn't criticism at all. The only positive thing about this review though, is that it makes me feel even better about those kind reviews that you other people write. So to those reviewers that stuck to my story, even when it seemed like it was going nowhere in some chapters, thank you.


	18. Perfect

Chapter 18 – Perfect

-

Marron wasn't at work. Trunks had noticed the moment he stepped into his office. The papers on his desk were the same from the day before, the mail wasn't sorted, and the window curtains weren't open. He walked briskly to his desk and put his briefcase down on top of the folders on his desk. Then he turned around and opened the curtains, letting the warm sun in his office. For a moment, he just stared out the window at the quiet streets. A few people were out on their morning jog, but other than that, everyone else was probably at home, just getting up, or sleeping in until the afternoon.

"Mr. Briefs?"

He turned around and smiled politely at the woman. He recognized her but didn't know her name, so he avoided having to say her name in his sentences as he spoke.

"Good morning," he started, watching as she formed up enough confidence to enter his office. "Did you happen to get a call from Ms. Chestnut?"

The woman now stood in the middle of the room, and she returned his greeting with a smile. "I'm sorry sir, I haven't, but I do have a letter from the company you had a meeting with recently. Though you were late, they seemed to like what you said to them once the meeting commenced. They accepted our offer on teaming up with Capsule Corp."

Trunks nodded. "That's great," he said, but at the moment, he didn't really care about that. He was busy thinking about why Marron didn't show up to work.

"Oh, and you have a meeting at 3:00."

He nodded again.

"And don't forget to sign the contract."

He nodded a third time.

"Read those papers on-"

"Ms.-" _Crap… _He forgot about avoiding starting sentences that would include her name. His face flushed a light pink color as he racked his brain for her name. She looked at him expectantly, but after a few seconds, it was clear to her that he really didn't know.

"I'm Abigail."

"Smith?"

"Johnson, actually."

He blushed again, and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry."

"That's alright. You have to remember a lot of business related things so it doesn't surprise me that you don't know some of your employee's names."

He knew she didn't mean to make him feel even worse, but he couldn't help but take it personally. "No, actually, I just had a bad start of the day," he started, trying to cover up his mistake. "I know your name, Ms. Smith."

"Johnson…"

He mentally slapped himself. "Johnson. Right." He sighed. This was going to be a long day.

-0-

He was relieved when he was able to walk out of his office, and out of that building. His day had gotten worse every minute: from the time he couldn't remember his assistant secretary's name, to when he spilled his cup of coffee on a business associate. He sighed, walking quickly toward his home so he could avoid the rest of his social life for today by staying at home with the curtains closed, eat whatever he could find in his refrigerator, as he really meant it when he decided he didn't want to talk to anyone. If he ordered pizza, he would have to talk briefly to the deliveryman, and he wasn't going to risk embarrassing himself again.

He looked ahead of him at the corner where he remembered he had bumped into Pan a while ago. Now that he thought about it, he smiled. That was the day she had made a lunch for him, and when they got stuck in the elevator. As he reminisced, he turned around that corner, only to fall backwards and land on his bottom.

He groaned loudly, noticing his briefcase on the floor, open, and papers scattered nearby. "Just great," he mumbled, forgetting about the person he had bumped into. Her voice caught his attention though.

"Ugh, I hate this stupid corner! My day keeps on getting worse!" she sighed loudly and continued speaking. "Why _me?!_ Why do the gods hate me?? Why not the perfect CEO with his _perfect_ life and _perfect _house and _stupid perfect-_"

"Pan?"

The girl sat up from her position and met his eyes. Her eyes widened and her mouth hung open slightly. "Trunks?? You again??"

He nodded. "Yeah, _me_ again. Which CEO are you talking about?"

She blushed, and laughed. "No one," she spoke quickly.

He raised an eyebrow, questioning her. "Pan," he said in a warning tone.

Pan got up from the ground and brushed off the dirt on her clothes. "Okay, okay. It was you, but only because I was frustrated, and my elbow hurts, and I think it's bleeding, and you seem like you have a perfect life because of your perfect appearance, and your-"

Trunks cut her off before she could finish. "So you're saying that you want the gods to hate me because your elbow hurts and because I'm attractive?"

She could detect his smile from his words even without looking at him. If possible, her cheeks grew redder, and she groaned. "I never said you were _attractive_, Trunks! And stop making me sound stupid! I already feel stupid as it is, and I don't need any help to make things worse, especially help from you!" Pan turned away and walked off, leaving Trunks behind, still on the ground.

He didn't waste any time at all. When she started leaving, he quickly grabbed the papers from the floor and stuffed them in his briefcase, stood up, and ran to catch up to her. "Wait, Pan." He put his free hand on her shoulder and continued. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere," she stated simply, staring straight ahead.

"Okay, so I'll just assume you're not busy." With the hand he had on her shoulder, he snaked it around her neck and pulled her close to him. She let out a small '_oof' _as the air was knocked out of her when she stumbled toward him. "You're coming with me," he said, changing the direction they were going.

"Trunks," she tried to straighten herself, but with his arm around her neck pulling her so that her head was on his shoulder, she couldn't. "Trunks," she repeated, still struggling beside him. "Where are you taking me?"

"I'm taking you to my place, silly." He ruffled her hair playfully, only to feel her struggling more to get out of his hold on her. "We're going to shun our pathetic lives temporarily, just for today, since our day is just going to progress downward from now. You see, the first bad event was like a sign that warned us that our day was just going to get worse every second. Like an omen, if you will."

"You mean this morning? When I showed up?"

He tensed up, sensing awkwardness between them. "No," he quickly said, pulling her close to him again. "The first bad event that happened was when I forgot Ms. Smith's name."

"Trunks," she started.

He prepared himself for her to say something serious: something that would relate to what had happened between them in the morning. "What?"

"I have a feeling you're referring to Ms. Johnson, not Ms. Smith."

He let go of her, his mouth hanging open. "What?" he repeated.

She laughed at his expression, taking this time to fix her hair that he messed up earlier. "There is no Ms. Smith, _Mr. Briefs_."

"How would you know?"

Pan shrugged, unconsciously hooking her arm with his and slightly resting her head against his shoulder. "You're just getting old, Trunks, face it. Tomorrow, you're going to find out in horror that you'll need a hearing aid. The next day, you'll probably need a walking cane, and-"

He bumped into her purposely, interrupting her babbling. "Whatever, Pan. If I'm getting old, so are you, seeing as you forgot you didn't want to be physically close to me."

"I never said I didn't want to be physically close to you, and am I right now?"

"If you don't count _this_ to be physically close, I would wonder what goes on in that head of yours," he said, nodding to her hand that was wrapped around his.

"What are you talking about? We're not-" she looked down in mid sentence, and her eyes widened. She quickly let go of him and crossed her arms, embarrassed.

Trunks laughed, reaching out to grab her arm. "I didn't say I didn't like it," he murmured, pulling her close to him like they were before.

"Trunks," she spoke under her breath.

He poked her side, and she couldn't help but giggle. Once she realized her reaction to his touch though, she said, "Stop it," but didn't pull away from him. Finally, he mused as he put an arm around her shoulders, she was allowing him to be close to her again.

-0-

She pulled him from his home out the front door, laughing so hard that her face turned slightly pink from the lack of air. He was right behind her, not even bothering to close the door behind them, as he was too busy trying to regain his normal breathing. He too, was laughing, as his hand gripped hers when they almost separated. When they reached his front lawn, Pan turned to him, and he put his free hand on her shoulder, both still laughing.

"I can't… I can't breathe," Trunks tried to say, but Pan shook her head and brought her hand to her eyes to wipe away the tears that had fallen down her cheek from the laughing.

"Trunks, you… You are such an idiot," she started, almost falling over. "Th-they found out it was you! Kami, what are you going to say to them when you go to work after prank calling them?"

"Did you hear the confused tones in their voices?" he added. "They took such a long pause before saying '…Mr. Briefs?' Oh Dende, that was priceless!"

They finally let go of each other's hands and Pan stumbled, but he caught her just when her forehead touched met his chest. When they both finally calmed down, their teary eyes met. Their smiles were still plastered on their faces, as if they just froze in time. Pan was the one to look away first, but she only for a few seconds. She looked back at him, and he couldn't help but break into a wider smile.

"You're-"

"Trunks, no more compliments," she interrupted before he could finish.

He bumped his forehead softly against hers. "I wasn't gonna," he whispered. "I was going to say that you're hard to read."

"I guess you don't know me as much as you thought you did," she whispered back.

"Maybe because you're not letting me."

"I'm letting you now."

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you?" he asked, as if doubtful.

She didn't answer him. Instead, she forced a smile and pulled her head away from his so that their foreheads were not touching anymore. "I need to go home now, Trunks. I've stayed here long enough."

He chuckled softly and looked to their feet. "Alright. I'll let you go now."

"It was fun though, wasn't it?"

He looked at her dark brown eyes, surprised at her words. She didn't usually tell him things like this. Maybe something was wrong. Or maybe he was just overanalyzing things. When he realized he was staring, he briefly looked away for a second and then looked back to her again.

"I missed you."

Did he hear her right? He gave her a questioning look, and she blushed and looked away. He smiled. Yeah, he heard her correctly. "I missed you too, Pan."

Pan shifted uncomfortably in her spot and after a few seconds, she cleared her throat. "Well alright, I'm gonna go."

He grabbed her arm before she started to walk away, and said, "Wait." He stepped closer to her, and she realized the familiarity of his movements.

He leaned forward, and slightly tilted his head to the side; readying the usual kiss he used to plant on her left cheek. Just as he was in kissing distance though, he noticed Pan's eyes suddenly look to her left; the same left he usually kissed her. He thought nothing of this, until she turned her head to where her eyes wandered, while saying, "Trunks, did you hear someth-"

The side of their noses touched, though their lips didn't meet, and instantly, Pan realized her mistake. She blushed, and they both took a small step back. Neither of them spoke, just stared at each other, wondering what the other is thinking. Then unexpectedly, Trunks broke into a smile, stepping closer to her until their distance was the same as earlier, before he leaned in for the kiss. "You know, Pan, if you _wanted_ to change the place I usually kiss, all you had to do was ask," he teased, watching her blush despite her angry appearance as she glanced away.

"Shut up, Trunks, I really did hear something." Not only did she look embarrassed, she even _sounded_ like she was. "Why the heck would I want to kiss you anyway?? You're a sick-"

She wasn't able to finish though, because Trunks interrupted, ignoring her rude remark. "Or," he started, gently grabbing on to her arm and pulling her closer, "Appear to want to be kissed intimately."

Pan couldn't bring herself to look at him as he said this, forcing him to lightly touch her chin and turn her head so that their eyes met. "You see, people usually lightly brush their arm to the other person, so that the other person would wonder if that brush was an accident. Then," he continued, doing exactly what he was saying, in a smooth and subtle manner. "They'd bring themselves closer together." He grabbed onto her waist and brought them closer together so that their bodies touched lightly. He was teasing her, she knew, but the way he was speaking, and the way her irregular breathing touched his skin clouded both of their minds. Common sense had disappeared from their heads as seconds passed. Pan couldn't bring herself to do anything, but listen, and experience the event that was happening to her at this very moment.

"Finally," his voice was husky as he spoke, leaning closer to her, like he had before, that they could hear each other's heartbeats. "They'd lean in slowly, and…" He whispered the last few words out, but he didn't finish because just as he had nearly finished his sentence, their lips met.

By then, both of their eyes closed. Nothing could be heard, except for the faint sound of their kiss. He had slowly kissed her at first, and then pulled his head back slightly so that their lips weren't touching. Then he leaned in again, but this time he didn't pull back. Instead, his tongue softly touched Pan's lips, wanting entrance. Though she didn't give in easily, Trunks' somehow coaxed her to allow entrance. Their kiss deepened, and his hands found their way to the back of her neck to bring her closer to him, while Pan grabbed his arm and pressed her body to his. Their kiss continued in pure bliss, both too caught up in their experience to actually realize what they were doing to each other, as well as who they were kissing.

He pressed her head closer to his, and moved to his head to tenderly nibble her bottom lip. Soon, without realizing this, their kiss became fierce. One of his arms encircled her body and pressed her against him. His hand that was on the back of her neck pressed her closer. Pan raised her head up and shifted her body, grinding against him, and from her actions, he bit down on her bottom lip.

A quiet whimper escaped from Pan's lips and she unconsciously nipped his upper lip, causing him to wince as he felt a numbing sensation from where his skin was penetrated. That was when she tasted his blood.

As if just realizing what had happened, Pan broke apart from him and backed away quickly, bringing her hand to touch her lips that came away with blood. "Trunks, w-we-"

Before she was even able to put together a sentence, she tripped over pile of branches and landed on her bottom. Instantly, Trunks was on the move to help her up, but before he was able to come close enough to reach her, she put a hand out to stop him.

"N-no, it's okay, Trunks, I'm fine. I… I just…" She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment, then reopening them and looked to the side to avoid eye contact with him. "I have to go now. I have… Something important tomorrow, and um… W-we probably shouldn't see each other for a while because you have work, and uh… I don't want to bother you, and-"

"Pan," Trunks interrupted, noticing her scared expression. "I didn't mean to have it go this far," he whispered, as he stepped closer to her, earning eye contact from her. She hadn't intentionally wanted to look at him, but because of her insecurity, her eyes wandered to the reason why she was so frightened.

When she didn't respond, he sighed softly and held out his hand, hoping she'd accept it and get up from the ground. Pan hesitantly took it, and when she was on her feet again, she quickly let go and walked past him.

"Pan, wait."

She stopped, a few feet in front of him. She didn't turn around to look at him though, because by now, her eyes were starting to get teary, and she did not want him to see her get emotional. "What?"

Trunks seemed to hear her wavering voice and her shoulders shake, and he walked to her. When he was close to her, he noticed that his hands were shaking too, though he didn't quite know why. Then, as if just noticing the taste of blood, he brought his hand to his lips and looked at his fingers to see whether it was really there. He didn't really care though, because all he could think about was their kiss. Though it hurt when his skin was penetrated, he had been more aroused than in pain.

Pan turned around when he didn't answer, and repeated, "What do you want, Trunks?"

He shook his thoughts away and looked at her. That was when he noticed her watery eyes. "I…" He couldn't find anything to say to her, as stared at her; afraid that he might say something that would scare her away.

She didn't move, or turn away from him. Even as tears finally fell, she couldn't stop herself from crying, sobbing in front of him. She looked away and tried to calm down, but no matter how hard she tried, she continued to break down.

Trunks brought his hand out and touched her shoulder, hesitantly at first, seeing if she'd pull away from his touch. When she didn't, he wrapped his arms around her and held her, warming her body up instantly from the cold breeze. Pan allowed him to hold her, and she cried into his chest, gripping the material that covered his arms with her hands.

"What's going on, Trunks? What's… happening between us?" she spoke between sobs.

Trunks held her tighter and closed his eyes, rubbing her back as he thought of what to say. "I don't know, Pan…"

None of them spoke after that, afraid that if they did, one of them would pull away and they'd never see each other again. They listened as the wind blew the trees, and as the dead leaves rustled on the ground. But as more time passed, they knew there was nothing they could do. Trunks' embrace grew loose, but her grip on his sleeve strengthened as she felt the cold air on her back where his arms had been.

"I think you're right, Pan. We probably shouldn't see each other."

Even though she'd anticipated those words, it hurt to her. She shook her head, her hands shaking as she did, though she knew it wasn't because of the cold. "I don't want to lose you," she whispered, not realizing that she was pressing her body closer to his.

"I don't want to lose you either."

"Can you take me home, Trunks?"

He nodded, reaching into his pocket to bring out his car keys, and she pulled away from him.

She sounded so broken up, he had to resist himself from pulling her into an embrace again and telling her everything was going to be okay. But he knew that it wasn't true. It wasn't going to be okay. He was supposed to be with Marron, yet he kissed his best friend instead. No, his life wasn't perfect at all, like what Pan had said hours ago. It's not even close. Maybe he was right about the omen.

-0-

A/N: Oh wow, I'm sorry I took so long to update this chapter! I've been extremely busy with my life and school. I hope this chapter was long enough though. Tell me what you think of it in your review. If you didn't like it, please elaborate and explain why. It helps a lot, and who knows, I might have the flow of the story change just so it'd match your expectations.


	19. Are You In Love With Me?

Chapter 19 – Are you in love with me?

-

They both had told each other that it was not a good idea if they were to see each other again. Of course, they were bound to meet again whether they wanted to or not, and their time to bump into each other unexpectedly was the next day. That's just how life was. The moment their eyes met, they felt a shiver run down their spine. Their current location was right in front of the Capsule Corp. building.

"Morning," he greeted calmly, slightly gripping the handle of his briefcase in a nervous manner.

She faked a smile and returned the greeting, softly repeated, "Morning," and was about to walk away but was stopped when he grabbed her arm.

"Wait," he murmured, letting go of her quickly when she hesitantly turned to look at him. He sighed. "I want to talk." When she looked down and bit the bottom of her lip as if finding a way out of the situation, he continued. "I don't want to avoid you, Pan, and I'm sure that you don't want to avoid me either… Or… Well, at least I'm _hoping_ you don't want to anyway. I want to a resolution."

"You said to me that you agreed we shouldn't see each other, Trunks."

"I know, but…" he sighed. "I shouldn't have said that." He felt his cell phone in his pocket vibrate, but he ignored it. "Can we just… Talk?"

Pan looked up at him. "You have work, and people are going to wonder why you're talking to me… _Marron's_ going to wonder why you're talking to me."

Marron… That's right. She didn't even know what happened last night. Would she be angry if he told her? _Should_ he even tell her? "We can talk privately in my office." _Where'd that come from? _He didn't know why he said that. Now he wanted to avoid his girlfriend? No, that wasn't it, he told himself. He was merely talking about a situation with a friend. That's all. It was totally innocent.

"Trunks, what's the matter with you? One minute you want us to not see each other again, and the next minute, you're saying that we shouldn't avoid each other." Pan crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg as she waited for him to reply.

She was right, he thought. What was going on with him? "I guess I just… I don't want… I don't want to lose my best friend. Just… Couldn't we at least talk for a minute?"

Pan knew she shouldn't, but she found herself following him into Capsule Corp. It felt wrong for her to go into the building, but it was as if she didn't care about anything anymore. No one noticed when they went into the elevator, the whole while being silent. No one noticed when they went into his office and closed the door.

"We shouldn't be sneaking around, Trunks. It's wrong."

"We're not _sneaking_ around, we're just coming up here so we can talk as _friends_. You told me yourself, Pan. You miss me, don't you?"

"Trunks, I don't want to do anything that makes what happened yesterday-"

"What happened yesterday was an accident," he interrupted. "It didn't mean anything."

She winced at his words. Of course it meant nothing… But to her, it meant a lot. She knew she was in love with him, but this was unrequited love. How could he not realize that to _her_, it meant something? Did he think that _he_ was the only one to decide whether everything's okay after what happened yesterday? Did he have no clue that she was in love with him, and that the only reason why she had been so distant was because of the pain of seeing him with another woman? "Don't tell me if it didn't _mean_ anything, Trunks! You're not…" she blinked back tears and took in a breath before continuing. "You're not _seeing_ what really goes on in your life and mine."

"What are you saying, Pan? It's my life; I think I'd know what goes on-"

"No, you don't understand!" She had to look away now. In a quiet voice, she whispered, "You don't understand what goes on in my life and what I have to deal with. You don't know the pain I have to live with and keep to myself because I can't tell _anyone_ what's wrong!" She blinked back more tears and her voice cracked. "You can't understand what I'm feeling right now, Trunks. You just can't."

"Then just _tell_ me what's wrong, darn it!" he shouted.

She closed her eyes shut. She shook her head and a sob escaped. Then she looked up at him angrily and shoved him with both of her hands. "Don't you freaking think I_ want _to??"

There was a knock on the door, interrupting their verbal battle, followed by someone coming right in. Trunks looked to the person who had walked in and sighed. Pan turned her head away from the door and wiped the tears that had fallen, then ran her hand through her hair. The secretary who had walked in felt the tension in the room, as she looked to Trunks, then to Pan.

"Um… Is this a bad time?"

"No," he mumbled, but the secretary knew better.

"I'm sorry, I should have knocked. I just wanted to remind you that you have a contract to sign." The secretary quickly left after speaking, as if the two would start arguing again. Once the door shut, he sighed again. He turned around to his desk and set his briefcase on top, then closed his eyes for a second, trying to clear his mind.

"Is it something stupid?" he asked her, his back still facing her.

"What?"

"Is it something that shouldn't matter?" he clarified for her.

She scoffed. "Of course not, Trunks, do you think I'm still a stupid teenager who thinks every little small problem destroys my life?? I can't believe you'd think that I'm that kind of person!"

He turned around to face her. "I know you're not that kind of person, Pan. I just wish you were so we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Well then I'm sorry I didn't turn out to be like that," she spat sarcastically. She watched as he leaned on his desk, staring at his shoes that shined under the chandelier that hung above them. Pan sighed. "Listen, I'm going to go. We're not getting anywhere, you're busy, and I have to go do something." She didn't wait for him to reply. Instead, she headed to the closed door, prepared to face the many employees that were probably eavesdropping on their conversation anyway.

"Are you in love with me?"

Pan paused. Her breathing stopped for a good five seconds. Her back was turned to him, her fingers gripping the doorknob in front of her. She couldn't believe what he had just said. How could he ask her that after so many years of her dropping hints? How could he ask her that when he was currently in a relationship with another woman? "I wasn't the one who initiated the kiss, Trunks," she said coldly in a stiff voice.

"Is that a yes?"

She turned around. "Are you hearing yourself right now? How can you ask me that??" She gripped her hands into a fist and turned around again to leave.

"Answer the question, Pan," he spoke softly, still staring at the ground. He was on to her, he knew. He even knew that Pan was aware of this. "And don't lie to me."

Pan closed her eyes shut and felt the tears fall down her cheeks. She slowly rested her head on the door and let out a ragged breath. "No."

"What?"

She lifted her head from the door and ran her fingers through her hair for the second time that day. Then she sighed and quickly wiped away the tears and tried to calm herself down. "I said no, Trunks. What else do you want from me?" She heard him walk toward her, and felt his hand on her shoulder. Pan flinched.

"When you say 'no', are you referring to the question, or to the fact that I demanded you to answer the question?" he said quietly by her ear.

Dang… He was good. She yanked her shoulder away from him and opened her mouth to say something but nothing came. Did she really want him to know how she felt? Earlier she was angry at him for not realizing that she cared for him that way, but now that he wanted her to tell him, she couldn't. Pan looked up and met his eyes. "If I said yes, what good what that do, Trunks?" she whispered. "And if I were to say no, would that erase what happened yesterday when you-" she caught herself then. "When I followed you home?"

He looked away. "I just want to know. Is that so wrong? I think I have the right."

"Okay, Trunks, tell me. If I asked you the same question, what would you say?"

His eyes met hers again. "What?"

"Are you in love with me?" she asked him.

His body went numb, and for some reason, his hands felt sweaty. Why was he nervous? Realizing she was waiting for him to answer, he spoke. "No, Pan, I'm not."

She looked away, and he felt a tug at his heart. Was that really the truth? He shook his head mentally. Of course it was. If it weren't, why would he say it? But then again, why did he kiss her? He wondered whether she was disappointed by his quick answer, but decided against it when she smiled and looked back to him.

"Okay, so maybe it isn't that hard for _you_ to give an answer to that question."

He was going to say something. But he couldn't.

When she turned around to leave, he didn't say her name to make her turn around.

He just watched the door close softly behind her, leaving him alone in his office.

It was then that he realized she hadn't answered his question.

Was she in love with him?

-

A/N: Alrighty, I finally updated. Sorry it's a short chapter… It's just that if I went on, it wouldn't match the theme of this chapter title, so I had to end it there. Oh yeah, I forgot to answer someone's question/review. Yes, Marron is dying. She's not pretending. Of course, that _would_ be interesting if she were pretending… Then again, I didn't want to portray her as some desperate, cheating girl with nothing better to do than ruin people's lives and take Trunks away from Pan at any cost. So yeah. That's my answer and reason for not having Marron pretend to die. Aw man, I'm so disappointed with this chapter… I'm not doing so well (with the story… and my personal life…) so I just hope that you people will just cope with this and wait 'till I get inspired again… Which I hope will be soon…


	20. Struggling to Refuse

Chapter 20 – Struggling to Refuse

"Mom? Dad? Um… Well, I guess you're still busy with work… But if you get the chance to speak for just like a minute or two, call me back, okay? I'm… I'm doing fine by myself and so far, I didn't make a mess at home. So, good luck with work."

It had been nearly a month since her parents had left for overseas business, but they hadn't called or spoken to her since the day they left. She tried calling weeks before, but there was no answer.

Pan shut her cell phone closed and gripped it with her hands. It was 7 p.m. here, but she wasn't sure what time that was where her parents are. She needed to talk to someone. Just when she was about to try calling her uncle, her cell phone started vibrating, and she looked at the caller ID. She didn't recognize the number and was hesitant to answer, but feeling the need to talk to someone, she picked up her phone and put it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Ms. Pan Son?"

"Yes, who's this?"

"This is the police department in New York. Ms. Son, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but the airplane your mother and father was in was found about 2 hours ago. We were able to identify their bodies very quickly, along with a few others. I'm terribly-"

She hung up before the man on the phone could finish. Her body went numb, and she didn't realize she was moving until she was running on the sidewalk of her town. Her footsteps were hard and loud, just like her heart pounding in her chest. She gasped for air every few seconds, but she felt like she couldn't breathe. _This isn't happening to me,_ she thought. _This _can't_ be happening. They've had to survive; they're strong enough, aren't they? _She felt tears run across her cheeks, but she didn't wipe them away. She was sobbing, she realized, but she didn't care about that.

She nearly collapsed near a building, by an oak tree. She wanted to throw up, but she held it in; she hated the burning in her throat and her tongue. It was then that she heard loud music, and she clasped her hands over her mouth to hold in her sobs. She peered from the side of the tree and watched as a man walked out of what appeared to be a bar. When the door of the bar shut, the music subsided. Pan waited for the man to leave before she sucked in a breath and walked into the building. Her parents had told her before never to drink when she was upset, but she refused to listen to her conscious telling her to turn around and walk away before it was too late. She couldn't take in the pain anymore. First she lost her best friend, and now she lost her parents. What more was there for her to lose?

Before she could stop herself, she ordered herself a drink and got it refilled once she finished each cup.

"Mr. Briefs?"

Trunks turned around in his chair and looked up at his secretary. "I still have 15 minutes before my lunch break en-"

"I'm sorry, but I think you'd want to see this," she interrupted, quickly turning on the television.

What he saw surprised him. There was Pan on the news, starting a fight in a bar. He blinked a couple of times, thinking it was an illusion, but when the image on the channel was still there, he stood up. "How would you know I know this girl?"

His secretary shrugged and said, "I saw you in the elevator with her."

That was all he needed to hear. He hoped that the media wouldn't think he was in a relationship with her because of that scene, but at the moment, he mainly thought about getting Pan out of that bar before someone recognized her. To save time, he quickly capsuled his car then flew to the bar closest to Pan's home. When he found the building, he quickly landed before anyone could see, then walked right in. He easily found her, sitting on another man's lap.

Before he knew what he was doing, he walked right up to her, and grabbed her wrists, pulling the drunk woman to him. He regretted doing this instantly when she laughed and wrapped her arms around him, but suddenly didn't mind that much when the other man quickly stood up and left. He felt her head rest against his chest and heard her breathe in his scent deeply.

"You smell good," she whispered, tightening her hold on him.

He tensed, then grabbed one of her arms and pulled it away. Then, before she could protest or attempt to hug him again, he slid his hand down her forearm and found her hand. Briskly, he walked to the bar entrance, ignoring the giggles and whispering of various people around them. Once he had her outside in the cool, breezy night, he turned to her and released his hold on her. He watched her hold her stomach as though she felt the liquid inside of her. For some reason, he felt responsible for her state. What had happened to her that would have made her so upset that she had to come here? He put both of his hands on her shoulders and met her eyes.

"Pan, what's wrong?" he asked quietly, searching deeply into her eyes in hopes to find an answer to his question. When she didn't speak, he gently gripped her shoulder, but she only laughed.

"I thought I could take in more alcohol, Trunks, but I guess not," she responded, slurring half the words that came out of her mouth.

"Pan," he said, not wanting to hear anymore of her drunk babbling. "Tell me why you came here."

"I wanna go home," she replied instead, tugging on his sleeve and ushering him to his car she spotted near them. Pan sniffled and pulled away from him after a second, staring in his eyes. "Please be mad at me, Trunks. I don't want to fall again," she spoke in a small, almost scared tone.

His face showed a sign of confusion, and his hand went up to her face and brushed a tear that fell to her cheek. "What are you talking about, Pan?" he murmured, but before she could answer, it began to rain, and he pulled her close to warm her body with his as they ran to his car. He pulled the passenger door open and she slid in. Then he circled his car to the drivers' side and shut the door behind him, shoving the keys in and starting the engine.

"I'm going to take you to my place. I can't let you stay at your house by yourself when you're like this. Why were you in there anyway? I can't believe how irresponsible you are," he scolded. "Your parents would be furious if they knew where you were."

Pan giggled and struggled to put her seatbelt on. "As if they'd ever find out."

"You shouldn't lie to your parents."

"Like they'd know."

He glanced at her for a minute, realizing how different she was. She would never have said that if she weren't drunk. After all, Pan was really close to her parents, and she never wanted to hurt them. "You weren't there because of me, were you?"

She crossed her arms and leaned back against the chair. "You're not the only one in my life, you know. Geez, sometimes I wonder why I even enjoyed that kiss."

He nearly went into the next lane when he heard what she had said, but quickly turned back when the car went on the yellow bumps. "What did you say?" he asked her, wondering if she was referring to the day before when he unintentionally initiated the kiss.

"Why are you so stupid anyway?" she asked instead of answering his question. "How can you not know the answer to whether I'm in love with you or not? I mean seriously," she continued on, laughing as she spoke. "Your _sister_ knows I'm in love with you, and that I have been for quite some time now. That's just sad because I don't even talk to her that much yet she knew about that. I can't believe someone as stupid as you can be the president of Capsule Corp. I mean seriously."

He pulled up on his driveway and took his keys out of the ignition. He didn't know what to say, or where to start. He couldn't even _look _at her. Instead, he stared at the steering wheel, contemplating and sorting out her words, trying to process the information in his mind.

"It's strange, the world, isn't it?" she said, unbuckling her seat belt and turning to face him. "I thought I was over you, but when you actually had the guts to kiss me, it was mesmerizing." She sighed and uncrossed her arms and let them rest on her lap.

He decided to look at her then. She looked almost normal. There was no sign of drunkenness except for her glazed eyes. Her sweater was almost falling off one shoulder, her bare skin exposed, and he had to continuously tell himself not to kiss her again right there.

Pan didn't help ease his thoughts away, as she noticed him glance at her bare shoulder. She leaned over and unbuckled his seat belt and sighed, moving herself so that her legs were on the driver's side area instead of the passenger's side. "You don't have to treat me like a child, Trunks. I'm an adult now remember?" She put one hand on top of his, but he pulled his hand away. "What ever I do is my responsibility, not anyone else's." This time, she moved her body so that she was sitting on his seat, and she reached over to him and touched his tie. Her fingers trailed upward and she loosened his tie, her fingers brushing against his neck.

He turned his head away slightly. "Pan, what are you doing?" he asked quietly, resisting the urge to press his lips against hers.

"I'm doing what you want me to do," she replied.

He grabbed her hand that was about grab onto his coat, probably to take it off, he decided, and looked into her eyes. "Pan, don't." When she smiled, he had to look away for a minute.

"You know you want me to," she whispered quietly in his ear.

"I… No…" he spoke, drawing out his breath intensely as if struggling to simply take a breath.

"You 'know'?" she giggled, moving her body slowly closer to his.

He closed his eyes then. "No," he sighed, then reopened them and corrected her. "'No', as in, I-"

"Refuse?" She whispered, interrupting him. Before he was able to respond to that, she gently pressed her lips to the corner of his, and inwardly smiled at his body's response. He tensed up at first, but a split second later, he turned his head so that their lips brushed together. "If you said 'no', then why does it seem like you're enjoying this?"

He grabbed her arm before she had a chance to pull away from him. "Just be quiet," he breathed, before pulling her toward him and crushing his lips to hers.

It wasn't long before Pan's hand trailed down his body and found the belt around his waist…

A/N: Hm.. Trunks wasn't able to resist Pan's drunken self. Now where does this lead to, you ask? You'll just have to wait until another update! :)


	21. Breaking Point

Chapter 21 –

Chapter 21 – Breaking Point

It was so silent that the sound of the clock ticking could be heard. She was glaring at him and he was at her, but they didn't speak. Both were fully clothed, in his bedroom; Pan standing on one side of the room and Trunks on the other. It was already one o'clock in the afternoon, but it wasn't like they had anything to do. After all, it was Sunday, the only day Trunks didn't need to go to work.

He sighed and closed his eyes for a second, allowing her to win their glaring battle. He ran his hand in his hair and then looked to the floor. "So?" he asked, his voice emotionless.

She didn't speak for a second, and he was wondering if she was ignoring him. After a while she crossed her arms across her chest and continued to glare at him. "It's kinda hard to talk right now," she said.

"You'd rather stand there all day, Pan?"

"This is better than walking anywhere closer to you," she replied coldly.

He decided to take a risk and look at her. When their eyes met, his blank ones with her glare, she closed her eyes and looked away. Pan put one hand to her face, as if covering her eyes from him. It was then that he realized that she was crying. He wasn't surprised though, as she hadn't even showed any emotion other than anger. He found himself walking toward her, but when she realized what he was doing, she quickly stepped backward and shook her head.

"Don't, Trunks."

He stopped.

"Don't," she whispered, her head still slightly shaking. She gripped her hand into a fist, her fingernails digging into her palm.

"Pan, I'm sorry."

"I don't think that's sufficient, Trunks, do you?" When he didn't answer, she angrily walked over to him and though she had said she didn't want to walk anywhere near him, she stood in front of him and pushed him. He stumbled slightly backward, but was able regain his balance quickly. "Do I even want to know what happened last night?" she asked him, partially crying as she did so. "Were you drunk too?"

"It's my fault," he answered her.

"What's your fault, Trunks?" she questioned him, daring him to answer her. When he looked away, she brought her hand to her face again. Tears were threatening to fall, but before they were able to, her sadness turned to anger. Before she knew what she was doing, she shoved him again, and this time when he stumbled backward, he felt the wall behind him. "What's your fault?" she cried again, stepping closer to him to nudging his shoulder roughly with her hand. "What is, Trunks?" She nudged him again, not caring if she was crying openly in front of him.

"What do you want me to say, Pan?" he started, grabbing onto her hands to stop her from hitting him any more. "I would think that you would know what we did when you woke up this morning, so what do you want me to say?"

She tried to pull her hands away from him but he wouldn't let go just yet.

"I think its better that I brought you home before you could have given yourself to a random guy in the bar!" he continued, gripping her wrist as she struggled to get out of his grasp.

"I'd rather have that happen, Trunks! You'd rather have me _do it_ with _you_?"

"Yeah, Pan, I would!"

Her mouth fell open in shock, and she stared at him as his face looked from angry and determined to realization of what he had just said. "What did you just say?" she asked him, but he didn't answer her. He let go of her hand then, and before she could restrain herself, she stepped forward to him and pressed her lips lightly against his.

His hands went up instantly to grasp her shoulders and for a second, he pulled her to him so that their kiss deepened. Then he moved one of his hands up to touch her neck, and then up to her cheek. It didn't last. He pulled away suddenly but didn't look at her. "Kami, what am I doing?" he whispered to himself.

Pan put both of her hands on his shoulder and looked to the floor. Then, after a sob escaped from her lips, she pushed him as hard as she could out of anger, but because of her crying she couldn't push him as hard as she wanted to. He was merely pushed against the wall instead. She didn't let go of him though, as if she didn't have the strength to stand on her own. "Why did you do that, Trunks?" she asked quietly, her forehead against his chest.

He wasn't sure if she was referring to what happened last night or for his reaction to her unexpected kiss. Whether it was for one of the two possibilities, he didn't answer. He couldn't.

"Why?" he heard her whisper between her cries.

She started hitting him weakly with one of her fists, but he didn't move. "I wasn't…" he had to look away, to the wall opposite them before he continued. "I wasn't drunk, Pan." He knew he needed to tell her that, before time could make things worse. He could feel the pressure build up in his chest, but he held back any emotion from his face. His hands shook though, as he gripped them into a fist. "Last night when…" he didn't say it. He shook his head. "I wasn't drunk then." She let go of him then, and nearly stumbled backwards. He didn't move from his spot, nor did he meet her eyes. "You were the only one that was. I just-"

"You weren't drunk last night? Then why…" she met his eyes then. Her head was pounding, as if the hangover symptoms were just acting up. "Oh my god… You were… We still…" she felt her stomach turn, and before she could process all the information together, she ran to the bathroom right by him, locked the door, and threw up in the sink.

She turned the faucet on and cupped her hands to carry water to her mouth to rinse it. Then she leaned over the sink, the water still running, and resisted from crying again. She put her hands to her face and took in deep, slow breaths, trying to regain her composure, and remember what happened that night. After a few minutes, she took her hands away, but instantly covered her nose and mouth with one hand when a sob nearly escaped. When she was sure she could control herself, she quickly shut the water off. Then she noticed a bottle of mouthwash in front of her, and poured some in her mouth to wash away the taste of vomit in her mouth. After she spat the mouthwash in the sink, she took a deep breath, and then walked to the door.

She unlocked it quietly so he wouldn't know that she was coming out of the bathroom yet, then slowly opened it and peeked in. She found him sitting on one side of the bed, facing the window, his face in his hands, leaning over so that his elbows rested on his knees.

It was then that she realized how furious she was of him. How could he take advantage of her like that? How could he cheat on Marron? Pan couldn't talk to him now. She thought that she could never be able to talk to him again, after everything that happened. She quickly but quietly walked out of the bathroom and was nearly to the middle of the room when he spoke.

"Pan, wait."

She turned to him, feeling her eyebrows furrow downwards to a glare. "Wait for what, Trunks? Are you going to tell me something else I should know?" She saw him get up and walk toward her, but she didn't stop there. "Hm… Maybe you want to tell me that you didn't think about anything and didn't use protection," she spat sarcastically. "Or maybe you actually _did_ wear one because you were actually _thinking_ about having safe-"

She didn't realize he was right in front of her until he had his hands on her shoulder. Before she could free herself from his grasp, he pushed her so that she was trapped in a corner.

"Let go of me, Trunks, or I swear I'll…" She couldn't finish her threat, as he leaned in toward her, his breath against her neck behind her ear, and she couldn't continue. She gasped when his lips brushed her cheek, and her eyes closed, unable to keep them open. She felt him move closer to her lips, but he stopped right at the corner of them. He moved his hands lower until he touched her waist, and she flinched but didn't move away. Just when he was about to move his head away from her, she turned slightly so that their lips brushed together, and he moved the hand that was on her shoulder to her neck, as he did before, and crushed their lips together. After a few seconds, he moved both of his hands lower to the rim of her jeans, and since she didn't wear a belt, he pressed hard against the area where the button was to mimic the feeling of what he felt when she roughly grabbed his belt the night before.

She broke their contact then. They were both breathing hard, his hands still at the rim of her jeans, staring at her, but she couldn't look at him. "That's…" he had to catch his breath in mid sentence. "That's what you did yesterday, which led to other things in this room." He waited a while before he could continue. "You may have been able to resist that feeling, but," he laughed bitterly. "You're not a guy, Pan. You wouldn't understand how hard it is to think straight when someone as beautiful as you messes with that area." He let go of her, and then walked away, out of the bedroom to head down the stairs to the living room.

She caught him before he took a step down the stairs. Without thinking, she roughly shoved him; angry that he had made it seem like it was her fault to start with. Maybe it was her fault, she wasn't sure, but she didn't want to believe it. As a result, she was pulled with him, and they fell down the stairs, stopping only when they were at the bottom of the steps. She ended up underneath him, their legs tangled together.

"That was _very_ mature of you, Pan," he said sarcastically.

"Shut up, Trunks. If you're such a responsible adult like you say you are, why couldn't you stop yourself from kissing me when I kissed you earlier?"

He didn't answer her. Instead, he attempted to untangle his legs from her and get up, but Pan grabbed onto his shoulders and rolled them over so that she was on top. "I didn't touch anywhere close to below your waist earlier, Mr. Oh-so-innocent," she continued and at the same time, grabbed onto his belt as if to prove her point.

His body instantly stiffened, and he grabbed onto her hand and pulled it away from him. "I told you, you shouldn't mess with that area," he spoke quietly.

Their eyes locked, and it seemed like time stopped as they stared into each other's eyes. Trunks let go of her hand slowly, and then he placed both of the palms of his hand to the floor and sat up, bringing her up with him. Her legs were now on either side of him, and they were dangerously close to one another. Pan leaned forward to him just like before, but before their lips met, she paused for a split second, and then pressed her lips against his. He moved his head so that he caught her upper lip while she caught his lower one, and their kiss deepened then.

_You're cheating on her._

He sharply inhaled and broke their contact by looking to the floor. He sighed while shutting his eyes and cursed under his breath. "Pan, what are we doing? I can't do this. I _shouldn't_ do this. I promised her I wouldn't hurt her, yet I couldn't control myself yesterday and even now." He seemed to be talking to himself as he ranted. "Kami, what the heck is happening to me?"

"Trunks, I…"

"Last night, when we… It didn't mean anything, right? All it was was a concupiscence event, nothing else."

She stared at him blankly. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"It was lust, not love. We're just… _Acquaintances _now."

Pan got off of him and stood up, watching as he did the same. She didn't meet his eyes as she nodded, looking away. "Not even friends, because then we would be friends with benefits, and," she laughed sadly. "Mr. Briefs can't have that, can he?"

"Pan, you understand, right? I… Our lives change, and… You knew from the very beginning, when you were 15 and came up to me and talked to me, our friendship wouldn't last, right? You knew that I'm older than you, and we'll someday grow apart because of that." He touched her shoulder when he saw her eyes water. "I can't-"

"Keep promises," she interrupted. She nodded and looked at him. "You can't keep promises, have self-control, remember who your girlfriend is, and," she stopped when he scoffed.

"If I can remember correctly, _you_ were the one who kissed me for no reason, Pan, both earlier, and just now."

"Yeah, and do you know why I did that?"

He let go of her shoulder and crossed his arms. "Well go ahead and explain."

"Now I can go off to my own life, Trunks, and be able to tell complete strangers, 'Yeah, the President of Capsule Corporation isn't capable of finding himself a soul mate after many years, so he decided to screw other people, no matter who they are, including me!'"

"You wouldn't do that, Pan. I know you. You're not the type of person who would betray someone like that, especially if that person was your best friend."

"I thought I knew you too, you know? You're not the type of person who would cheat on your girlfriend with his best friend, but guess what?" she stepped forward, close to him. "Seeing as you did something I thought you would never do, I guess we were living a lie from the beginning."

"Well at least we know our position now."

"Right, and that is…?"

He looked down at her as he stepped forward too, so that their faces were close. "We're complete strangers."

She forced a laugh and looked away. "Good. I never needed you in my life anyway."

Though she told him that, she knew it wasn't true. She really did need him. There was no one left for her, though she wouldn't admit it. He really was blind, as he still didn't know about Marron's condition, or her unusual behavior in result of the loss of her parents. And she hated him for that.

A/N: Alright, there's another one. Thanks for the reviews, by the way. Yup, I did get inspired again, though I don't know how, lol. I'm glad that you guys liked the previous chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one as well, even though this one isn't something to be happy about, seeing as Trunks wasn't able to control himself. I'll have to admit though; this isn't one of my best chapters because I had different moods each day I continued to write this chapter. I was kind of depressed when I wrote the first portion of the story, and I think you can tell (or maybe it's just my imagination) because of their mood, so I apologize for the inconsistency. I hope this chapter was decent enough though. Oh yeah, I know that Gohan and Videl would have been able to survive the plane crash, but I wanted to 'get rid of them' somehow so that Pan would be by herself, so that event was mostly for convenience. Sorry, I couldn't come up with a way for them to be gone so I decided to go with a plane crash.


	22. Remember that I love you

Chapter 22 – Remember that I love you

He could hear her crying through the open window. He hadn't planned on coming to her house, but she had left her sweater at his house and since they had decided to end their friendship, he didn't want it there. What was he supposed to do, go inside her home and comfort her? Because that would be what a friend would do. Sure, he was gentlemanly, but he was also stubborn. If he went inside and comforted her that would prove how wrong he was to end their friendship. He sighed, gripping the sweater in his hand. He looked peeked in her home, standing on tiptoes, through the window, and what he saw made him drop the sweater he held in his hands. Blood was everywhere; puddles on the floor, finger smears on the walls, and a knife lying on the floor.

He didn't have second thoughts of opening the door and running to her side, picking her up from the floor and onto the couch. She didn't even notice that he had came in too; she was busy holding onto her left arm with her right hand, that was covered in blood. Her clothes were soaked in her blood that he had to wonder if someone had come in and attacked her.

"Pan, what's going on, who did this to you?" he asked, his voice panicky.

When he had spoken to her, she realized that he was there, and she glared at him through her bangs, her head still down. She took in heavy breaths, gripping her arm tighter, causing more blood to spill out. "I hate you, you know that?" she whispered harshly that he felt a chill run down his spine. "You don't understand anything. You're too caught up doing Kami knows what, and…" she winced in pain and leaned forward from the couch, holding her head in her blood soaked hands. "And I'm so stupid, and my life has turned upside down. I can't do this anymore. I don't wanna be here."

He knelt down in front of her on his knees, processing all the information she had just said. "You did this to yourself?" he asked dumbly, but she didn't answer.

"You're not supposed to be here. There is no relation between us." Her tone made the hairs on his arms stand on end, and he had to look away to keep himself from breaking down. Now her voice was wavering, as if she were crying. "Why are you here?"

He grabbed her arm to inspect it, but she pulled away from him instantly.

"Don't touch me. I don't like it when you touch me." She was referring to last night, he knew. She was obviously out of it, and he knew she needed to get medical help quickly before she lost too much blood.

"Pan, come on, lets go to the hospital," he said, grabbing on to her arm again, but she swatted it away.

"I don't need you in my life, Trunks. I don't want…" she didn't finish her sentence, and he had to wonder if she was aware of it.

_You don't understand anything…_

"What happened last night before you got drunk?" he asked her, watching as she covered her face with her hands again. "Why are you doing this to yourself, Pan?" He could hear her sobbing through her fingers. He closed his eyes to block the image of her covered in her own blood. "What did I do?"

"Do you want to know what you _didn't_ do, Trunks? You didn't care about anyone, that's what. You didn't ask how Marron's doing. You didn't care about…" She didn't finish her sentence again.

"What does Marron have to do with anything?"

_You don't understand anything…_

She didn't answer.

He looked at her, and then waited. When she didn't give any sign of response, he sighed and ran to the cabinets and grabbed the emergency kit. When he came back to her, she was on the floor again, on her hands and knees, as if she had tried to get up but fell instead. He was about to hold her up, but she moved away from him.

"I don't need you," she said again. "I don't need _that_," she looked to the emergency kit he held in his hands. "I told you… Leave me alone."

"I'm not going to leave you alone, okay?" he shouted, grabbing onto her shoulders. She didn't move, both surprised and scared of his outburst. "Not when you're like this! Do you think I can let you cut yourself up and watch you slowly die?" His eyes were tearing up, but he didn't allow them to fall. "I don't care if you don't want me to be here or if you even have the slightest idea of how scared I am right now, but if you could just let me help you, I-"

"My parents are _dead_, Trunks! I don't want to be here!" she cried interrupting him, and he felt his heart skip a beat.

_You don't understand anything…_

It was quiet all of a sudden; the only sounds were of Pan's sobbing and the ticking of the clock.

"Is that… Is that why you were at the bar yesterday?" he asked her. Of course, she didn't answer. "Oh my god, Pan. I'm…" he choked on his words, unable to finish. He found himself pulling her close to him, feeling her blood soak into his shirt, the tears seeping through his sleeve. He couldn't hold it in any longer and he cried too, feeling incredibly ignorant of her life. He had left her at her time of need, just because he made the mistake of sleeping with her when she was drunk. And drunk because she found out her parents died.

She tried to pull away from him, but he didn't let go of her. He couldn't. He felt like if he were to let go of her, he would never feel her in his arms again. He knew it was probably true. She hated him, and she would never let him go anywhere near her again, because he was such an idiot to not even realize that she was in so much pain.

"Let go of me, Trunks, I freaking don't care about anything anymore so stop worrying." She knew he was crying as he held her, but she was too angry to care.

"How can you tell me to stop worrying if you want to kill yourself, Pan?" He felt her try to move away from him, but he held her more tightly. "Don't be so stupid."

"You would know what stupid is, wouldn't you?" she whispered, pushing him away with her hands on his chest. He finally let go of her, and when he felt the sticky red liquid on his hands, he realized he needed to wrap her wounds up. He reached for her arm that was bleeding the most but stopped when Pan spoke. "Don't touch me."

He noticed her jeans had blood everywhere, and he had to ask. "Where else… Did you hurt yourself?" his voice was shaky, and he sounded scared.

"Does it matter? Get out of my house."

"Where else did you hurt yourself?" he repeated, this time with more force.

"I don't remember."

"_Where_, Pan?" this time he nearly shouted it.

She breathed heavily, glaring at him with cold dark brown eyes. "Everywhere."

He felt gooseflesh form throughout his body as her words were processed in his mind. He didn't stop when she screamed at him to let go of her this time. He didn't let go of her when she tried to push him away. With all the strength he could muster at the moment, he grabbed her arms and bandaged it, then grabbed her leg. She winced in pain, and he knew that she has cut herself there too. He grabbed hold of the buttons of her jeans, but she grabbed onto his hands.

"Don't." Her eyes met his, and he could've sworn her glare was replaced with a pleading look for a split second.

"I'm not going to do anything to you, Pan."

"I don't care."

He let go of her. "Then I'm taking you to the hospital."

"If you bring me there, they'll think I'm crazy."

"You are crazy! You're trying to kill yourself!" he shouted, pointing to all the cuts she had all over her body. "Don't you think that fits under the category of 'crazy'?"

"Do you know what I think is crazy? When a person sleeps with his best friend when that best friend was drunk, just like what he does to all the other women in his life," she spat.

He had to look away, not knowing what to say. He gripped the wrapping cloth in his hands, staring hard at Pan's family picture lying on the floor, the glass shattered. After a while, he decided to speak. "I've never slept with anybody else, Pan." When he looked at her, she looked away, her hair covering her face. He hesitantly grabbed onto her hand and was surprised when she didn't pull away. "Let me help you, and I won't take you to the hospital."

"I'll do it myself."

"Would you?" he questioned her. "Or are you just going to let yourself bleed to death?"

"Either way, it doesn't matter. Whatever comes first, I'll accept it."

He gripped his hold on her. "What are you saying? It does matter. There are other people that love you. Goten loves you, my family does, and I…" She looked at him and he swallowed hard before continuing. "You know I love you, don't you?" He knew she needed to hear that. He still loves her as a best friend, but because of their vow to become distant just hours ago, he thought he never had to say it again. The situation was different now though. She was suicidal, and he knew she needed to hear him say it.

She pulled her hand away from him and closed her eyes, bringing one of her hands to her face. She cried and shook her head, all of a sudden feeling the pain from her wounds throughout her body. She hadn't realized that her body was numb until he had brought her back to being sane by his words. That was how much she needed him. But she wouldn't admit it. "Please leave, Trunks," she quietly spoke, her voice soft.

"I don't want to leave you alone like this, Pan."

"It hurts when you're here; talking to me like you care."

He hesitated before saying, "I do care, Pan… I just…" _Don't understand anything._ He closed his eyes, not knowing what to say. He remembered what she had told him yesterday, during the car ride; that she was in love with him, and had been for a long time. He kept on telling himself that he didn't love her that way, though deep down, he knew that something wasn't right. Maybe he wanted to believe that he wasn't in love with her but he didn't want to admit that. He was supposed to be with Marron.

He watched her as she struggled to get up, and was surprised when she was able to. She was stronger than he realized, both mentally and physically. He couldn't help but stare at her legs that were covered in blood.

"Get out, Trunks," she whispered. "I don't want you here." When she nearly collapsed, he was up on his feet and he caught her in his arms. She cried again, gripping onto his forearms.

"You can't even stand on your own, Pan."

"Yes I can," she persisted, pushing herself off of him.

He could see the blood seep through the bandages wrapped around her arm, and he looked at her pale face. "You don't expect me to leave you here, do you?" he asked her. When she nodded, he shook his head. "You think I'm going to?"

She took a step forward to him and winced, but kept going, putting her hands up and pushing him to the door. When he refused to move, he saw more blood seep through the bandage, and realizing this, he kept moving.

He let her win this time, allowing her to shut the door on him. He knew she was still there, by the door, her back to the wall, and before he left, he grazed the wooden door with his fingers. "Just remember that I love you, Pan."

She held in a breath, and waited until she heard his footsteps fade away before she slid down to the floor and cried silently. "You make things so much harder, Trunks, did you know that?" she whispered, though she knew he couldn't hear her. He was already gone.

_You don't understand anything…._

A/N: Wasn't that a fast update? lol don't get used to it though, because that was like the spur of the moment thing. I was surprised I finished this chapter so quick, but it was probably because of all you people's nice reviews! It's really good to hear from all of you. Hm… The last chapters are better than the previous chapters you say? No pressure there, huh? Haha. Alrighty! Off to plan the next chapter! Oh yeah, sorry about the multiple story alert things. I totally messed up and put the wrong chapter in, and yeah. Hehe long story. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I've gotta get moving along. I have about 2 months to finish this story because I won't be able to post more when summer starts. (Another long story. Haha..) So lots of writing to come! Have a great day, you guys.


	23. What I Want

Chapter 23 – What I want

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Her body was already shivering when she woke up the next day. She had fallen asleep, sitting up against the couch on the floor, still in her clothes from the day before. She wiped her eyes, but then stopped and grimaced when pain shot through her entire body. She looked down at her body and closed her eyes at the sight. It was like looking at a horror movie. Her blood wasn't red anymore; it was a dark brown. She turned her head away, but regretted it when she felt the cut at the back of her neck split open.

She thought that she would be dead by the time she woke up, but when she noticed her bandaged arms, hands, and feet, she realized that that must have saved her. She slowly sucked in a breath, and then forced her body to get up. Her legs buckled beneath her, but she quickly caught the table before she fell. She walked across the room, toward the front door and the flight of stairs leading to her room. When she finally passed the table, her hands grabbing to the chair close by, her eyes caught the knife still laying on the floor, her blood still stained on the blade. Just when she was about to reach for it, something stopped her. _You know I love you, don't you?_

She snapped her hand back, her body feeling cold. She forced herself to look away from the knife, and she nearly cried. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying. Then, with all the strength she had still left, she walked up the stairs, stumbling only twice as she went. She was finally at her bathroom. She closed the door, though she was the only one there. It had become a habit already, and she had to shake her head to keep her mind off her parents.

She looked at herself in the mirror above the sink, and she slowly undressed herself, starting with her shirt. When it came to her wounds, her clothes stuck to her, glued to her skin by her blood. She flinched, but she tugged on it, and she was able to get rid of that piece of clothing, though her wounds had opened up and she was bleeding again. She pulled down her pants, once again pushing it down from her wounds. That resulted in open wounds again. Once she got rid of all the clothing, she stepped into the shower and gasped when the water got in contact with her cuts. Her body stung all over, but she forced herself continue. Showering had become a strenuous activity because of the lack of energy she had.

After a few minutes, she stepped out and patted herself dry with a towel. She quickly dressed, throwing on a t-shirt and shorts, wanting as little coverage as possible so her wounds wouldn't be in contact with her clothes as much. She didn't want her blood to dry on them again. After she was finished, she closed her eyes for a second, her body tired. She sighed and then opened her eyes and slowly walked down the stairs, gripping the handrail tightly as she went. Just when she was a step away from the front door, she heard a knock.

She panicked for a second. She was still bleeding, as her wounds had opened up when she peeled her clothing from her body. When no solution came to mind, she opened the door slowly, hiding behind it and peeked out. Her eyes met cool blue eyes.

"Pan…" Trunks looked away when he realized he was staring.

"If I told you to get out yesterday, what makes you think I'd want you here today?" she asked, her tone cold.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He looked back at her, and when his eyes trailed down to look at her attire, his eyes stared at her open wounds.

"Well, I'm okay so you can go now."

Before she was able to shut the door on him, he blocked it with his hand. "Wait, I… Can I come in?" When she looked away and sighed, he had to continue before she spoke. "It'll only be for a few minutes." She was hesitant, and just when he was sure she was about to refuse still, he whispered, "I promise I'll leave you alone after, if that's what you really want. I don't want to force you to still care about our relationship because," he quietly laughed bitterly before continuing. "I totally screwed that up."

She looked at him and for a moment, it seemed as if she was searching in his eyes for something more than regret. "What do you think I want, Trunks?" she asked, surprising him. Her words were softly spoken, almost in a worried, hopeful tone. She wasn't sure why she asked him. She didn't even know what her answer was, or what she wanted to hear.

He stared at her for a moment, not knowing what to say. "You want me to leave you alone, right?" he asked her, but she didn't answer.

Pan looked to their feet and, as if contemplating, she bit her bottom lip. Then she nodded to herself. _Maybe…_ Her motives now, were to close the door on him, hoping he'd leave her alone like she thought she wanted, but she surprised both Trunks and herself when she opened the door wider for him, allowing him to enter her home. She walked away from him, without a word, into the kitchen where she grabbed two mugs. Without even asking, she made coffee, knowing that was what he would have chosen anyway, if she had asked him.

She heard him shut the door behind him and he entered the kitchen too, watching her. "Here," he said, holding out his hand to grab the empty cups from her. "I'll help."

"I got it, Trunks."

"No, seriously, I'll help you."

"Trunks, I-" He grabbed her hand, and she didn't finish her sentence, making him look at her expectantly. "I…"

He noticed her unconsciously move toward him, and he looked away from her and cleared his throat. He stepped away, noticing their closeness and let go of her hand. He stole a glance at her, and she looked away instantly, her cheeks turning pink. It was strange for him to see her act this way, especially since he was aware that she was in love with him. He felt his heartbeat quicken and that confused him even more. Before things could get any awkward, he decided to speak. "Um…" he forced a small laugh, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I was just... Going to grab the cup, but I uh missed and grabbed your hand instead. I guess I have horrible hand-eye coordination." He waited her to laugh with him, but she didn't.

She glanced at him again; eyes emotionless, and then turned her back to him to continue the coffee making process. "You like it black, don't you?"

His smile faded, and he nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

It was quiet for a while, until Pan sighed softly. He looked at the back of her and found himself walking closer to her. When he was right in front of her, he noticed a spot of blood seep through the back of her shirt, and he placed his hand firmly on her back. She gasped and slowly turned her head toward him but didn't meet his eyes.

"What are you doing?" she asked, but just as she had done to him, he didn't answer. She felt his breath on her neck, and when he used his other hand to brush his fingers on the side of her neck, tickling her, she grabbed his wrist. She still didn't meet his eyes, and it was then that he realized what he just did.

He stepped away from her and pulled his hand from her grasp. She let go of him and he quickly looked away, to his feet. She spoke again, her voice quiet, but firm. "If you're going to do that Trunks, I don't-"

"Sorry," he interrupted. "I didn't mean to do that." He was both confused and embarrassed. Why had he done that in the first place? It wasn't like he loved her that way. Maybe he was just attracted to her body… Her scent, the way she spoke his name, or maybe he was caught by the taste of her kiss.

"Then why did you…" she couldn't finish, because he had taken a stride toward her and caught her lips with his. Her hands went up to his shoulders instantly, and she gently pushed him, but only so that their lips weren't touching. "Trunks, what are you-"

"I want to know, Pan, if you're just in denial with everything, if you really want me to stay with you, or if you even believe what you're telling yourself," he said, his words just tumbling out of his mouth without control. "If you're just telling me the opposite of what you're really feeling, if you're not really okay, if you're… If you're in love with me," he whispered, not sure how he found the courage to speak to her like that. "You'll know the answer to all of these questions, right? From one kiss, not just the casual friendly one, but one with meaning… Would you tell me?"

Pan looked everywhere but him, her heart rapidly beating in her chest that she was sure he could hear it. She let go of him, closed her eyes for a second, and then reopened them. She saw him lean toward her again, but she didn't tell him to stop. Before he was too close, she looked into his eyes and realized that she was trembling. Their noses touched first. He closed his eyes and he softly sighed, his breath on her lips. When he opened them again, he still met her dark eyes staring right at him. "Close your eyes," he whispered, and she did what she was told.

She felt his hands on her waist, and she shut her eyes tighter, her body still in pain from her cuts. He loosened his grip a little, watching the expression on her face. He stepped closer and closed the space between their bodies, feeling her hands go up to grab his sleeve. Then he tilted his head and kissed her upper lip gently. When she didn't respond, he dipped his head lower and caught her bottom lip, feeling the warmth from her face. It was then that she finally responded, captivated by his kiss, opening her mouth slightly so that he could enrapture her and deepen their growing contact. He felt her knees nearly give way, but he held onto her and felt her grip his shirt tightly in her hands.

He knew he wasn't doing this because he wanted to know what she was feeling. He already knew what she was thinking. He just wasn't sure what _he_ felt about her and everything going on between them. Was it just lust that made him so attracted to her? He couldn't stop himself from thinking about her. Maybe it was her intoxicating smell. Being this close to her, holding her close to his body, he could easily detect her scent; feel her body tremble when he kissed her, which made him even more turned on.

His hands went up to the side of her neck and pulled her closer to him, her soft hair on the back of his hand. When he heard her soft moan, he pressed his body hard against hers, as if wanting to hear it again. She gasped then, her arms falling to her side and to the top of the counter. It was then that their kiss became rough. When Pan felt something hard against her body, she broke the heated kiss. They both breathed heavily, both looking to the side rather than into each other's eyes. When her breathing became almost normal, she brought her hand to her lips, wiping the moisture from their kiss and he did the same. "I know what I want, Trunks." Their eyes met then, and she continued. "I didn't feel anything," she said, referring to their kiss. "Did you?"

It was his turn to lie. "No."

"Good. Because I want you to leave now."

He stepped away from her and her body instantly felt cold without him to cover her. She followed him to the front door, and when he opened the door, he turned around to her.

"That was a stupid idea, you know that?" he heard her say under her breath.

He laughed bitterly. "Yeah, it was. But you know what I think? You're not telling me the complete truth."

"Well neither are you."

He nodded slowly. "Fine. I guess that's how we are, huh?" He smiled. "We keep things from each other that we're afraid of." She looked away from him, knowing he was right. He stood in front of her, and carefully placed his hands gently on her shoulders. He made her look at him, whispering her name under his breath. "Goodbye, Pan."

Her eyes watered, but she allowed no tears to fall. She turned her head to the side a little, gazing at the distant buildings before her, but she didn't pay any attention to the architectural masterpieces. She blinked a few times, getting rid of the tears that glazed her eyes. It was then that she realized where her heart was. Just when he leaned forward, placing a gentle, kiss on her cheek, she swore she felt her heart skip.

"I'll give you what you say you want now," he murmured, after breaking his contact. He let go of her shoulders and for a second, looked at her. He gave her a small, sad smile but when she looked away from him, he looked away too. He walked away then, and just when he was out of sight, she couldn't hold back the tears. She let them fall, covering her face with her hands, leaning against the door, and sliding down until she felt the floor beneath her. She realized that she didn't want what she thought she wanted. She made herself believe that she didn't want her best friend anywhere near her, but now that it was probably too late, she knew. She had wanted him all along. And the funny thing was he was completely aware of what she felt for him. Who ever thought that love healed the heart?

* * *

A/N: Hm.. I finished it today. Surprised me. Haha. Sorry it took so long, I was distracted, reading other people's stories (which are awesome, by the way). So yeah, I hope you liked this chapter, and I hope I didn't take too long of a break that even I forgot how this was supposed to go, because I have to admit, I got stuck a few times and I totally messed up the next chapter after this one (yeah, I started it before this one) and because of that, I have to reedit all that. Anyway, don't be too worried, I'll fix it. Haha. I hope this chapter was longer than the previous two. I'm pretty sure it is, but oh well. Alright, I have to rewrite my horribly written essay for school now, which totally sucks, but I guess that's life. Haha. Have a great day, you guys.


	24. Is For You to Love Me

**Chapter 24** – Is For You to Love Me

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She was almost finished packing up her parents' possessions. She couldn't stand looking at them, and whenever she saw pictures of them on a picture frame on some of the furniture, she would break down to tears. She didn't want to be reminded of her pain, especially now that she and Trunks were never going to speak to each other again. But she desperately wanted to. She was in love with him, for crying out loud, and there was nothing she could do to deny it any longer. Her heart couldn't take any more; whether it is another loss of a loved one, or holding back her emotions. But wasn't losing her best friend the same as losing a loved one - especially because she was in love with him?

Pan shook her head, ridding her thoughts. She continued walking up the stairs to the attic, where other boxes of her parents' belongings lay. She placed the heavy box she held in her arms on the ground. That was the last one. Pan sighed, staring at the dark, dusty, and spacious attic, watching the dust floating slowly in the air. Her nose ticked, and she blinked, her eyes watery; her allergies were starting to act up. Pan turned around to leave so she wouldn't have to put up with her sneezing fits.

She circled the downstairs of her home, looking for any other items she may have missed, when her eyes spotted her sweater. The same one she had left at Trunks' home; the reason why he had showed up just when she was in the process of committing suicide. Either the sweater had saved her from taking her own life or it had given her pain she could barely live with.

Pan left it alone. She didn't want to deal with it right now. After all, she had spent the whole day cleaning out the entire house, including the long process of taking out the red bloodstains on the carpet. Her stomach growled, begging her to eat and fill it up with food. Her hands went up to her stomach, feeling the muscles twitch when her stomach growled. Pan grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

The smell of coffee invaded her senses and she felt the need for caffeine. Pan walked to the small café, the same one she and Marron had been together a while ago. Though she had a past here, she didn't really care. Right now, she was too hungry to think about anything but putting food in her system.

"Pan?"

She turned around for a second and she thought she was facing a ghost, but then she realized she was facing Marron. "Hey," she managed to say, hoping there was no guilt present in her eyes. She wondered whether Trunks had told Marron what had happened between them, but decided against it when Marron embraced her in her arms. Her bony arms scared her, but she showed no sign of fright and instead, returned the hug. "How are you doing?" she asked after their hug ended.

Marron shrugged, smiling but Pan could tell it was a pained one. "I'm fine, how about you?"

Pan feigned a smile too and forced a laugh. "You know me; just… Here." She didn't want to talk about her parents.

The other woman nodded. "So are you just getting coffee?"

Pan nodded. "Pretty much, yeah. Maybe I'll get a muffin too, but I dunno. Are you here for lunch?"

"Yeah. Well, I was, but I just finished. I'm here with Trunks."

Her heart stopped beating for a second, and her breath caught in her throat. "What?" she croaked, swallowing hard. Her smile faded, and it was then that she heard his voice in the background. She turned around and she saw him sitting by a group of his businessmen, apparently compromising over an event.

"We were so lucky they drove into town last night; it was like it was meant to be. It was also really lucky when we were able to find Trunks earlier too. He wasn't in his office today, which got everyone worried."

_He wasn't in his office because he was checking up on me,_ Pan realized. "What did he say he was doing?" she dared to ask, feeling her heart pound in her chest. When she saw the blonde still smiling, she knew that instantly that Trunks had not told her the truth.

"He said he was dealing with business."

_And you believed that?_ She wanted to ask, but she didn't. "Oh."

Before Pan could add more to her short reply, she heard someone approaching from behind her, and just when she glanced to the left to see who the person was, walking past her, she realized it was Trunks. He walked passed her to Marron, as if she wasn't even there. "Hey, ready to go?" he asked the blonde, not even looking at Pan.

Marron noticed how Trunks was avoiding Pan's eyes, and she looked first at him, then to Pan. "Yeah…" she answered slowly, but her eyes were on the dark haired girl. Trunks grabbed her hand, but when he was about to pull her away, she spoke again. "Wait." He looked at her, and she hesitantly continued. "Um… You know that Pan's here, right?" she asked, pointing to Pan, who had already turned around and was speaking to the man at the register.

Trunks looked to where his girlfriend was pointing to, and then quickly looked away. "Yeah… What about her?"

Marron raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'what about her'?"

He met her confused gaze, his own features emotionless. "So… It's just Pan. We see her all the time… Now come on, we're going to be late." He felt a tug at his heart. He knew he was being rude, cold even, but he needed to convince himself that he didn't care about the girl anymore. He shouldn't even care because they had become more than just friends. They had become friends with benefits, whether they intended it or not. He just needed time to think things through, and then maybe, just _maybe_ he'll confront her that is, if Pan wanted it too. He knew he was being a little selfish, but he was sure Pan understood. At least, he _hoped_ she was aware of the reasons for his behavior.

"Trunks, you're not…" Marron decided to change her sentence, as she sighed and looked away. "You shouldn't be such an impertinent jerk," she said under her breath.

He was surprised at how she said it. He knew she disapproved of his behavior towards the other girl, but he wasn't aware that she would be _angry_ with him. He believed that she was a soft-spoken person, who wouldn't dare insult him like that no matter the circumstances. He was not only her boyfriend, but also her _boss._ "What?" he found himself stupidly asking.

"You're not yourself," she whispered so that no one but him could hear.

"Marron, I just…"

"Go talk to her."

He looked at her like she was crazy. "Are you kidding me? We're supposed to be at work now, not socializing."

"Trunks…" she looked at him again, frowning.

He shook his head. "No, we have to be at work."

"No one's in charge of you Trunks, five minutes isn't that bad."

"I'm not going to risk it, Marron, now let's go."

"Trunks," she grasped his hand and gently squeezed it.

"No." His voice was firm, and when she realized he wasn't going to change his mind, she sighed and let go of his hand.

"Fine." It was then that she realized her hands were shaking, not from the cold, but one of the symptoms of her illness. Before Trunks could see, she put her hands behind her back. "Why don't you go on ahead and I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

He sighed too. "Marron, come on, don't be mad just because of that. It's not like it matters whether I talk to someone or not." He extended his hand to grab hers, but she stepped away. He met her eyes then, an I-can't-believe-you're-that-mad kind of look in his expression. "Marron, seriously, why are you mad?"

She shook her head. "I'm not mad, I just… Want another cup of coffee," she said, finding an excuse that might let her off the hook.

"Alright then, I'll get you one."

"No!" She realized that she had shouted. "I mean it's okay, I don't want to make you late too."

"You said it yourself, Marron, I'm the boss right? So it's okay, I'll get you one. Go ahead and have a seat, I'll be back in a bit." He quickly turned and went up to the register, not wanting his girlfriend to stay mad at him.

Marron sighed. She quickly took a seat, feeling her legs wobble beneath her, and she carefully watched him as she grabbed a bottle of pills from her purse. When she was sure he wasn't looking, she took a pill out, and popped it in her mouth. Once the saliva in her mouth built up, she swallowed, feeling the lump go down her throat. She nearly gagged, but was able to keep a straight face. Only two more pills to go…

While Trunks was up there, he had forgotten that Pan was also waiting for coffee, until he finished ordering and was waiting at the other end of the counter with her. Their eyes met for a split second, but both turned away without a word.

"A tall Vanilla latté," the man behind the counter called, putting the drink down in front of the couple.

"Thanks," Pan said, and she grabbed the drink, grabbing a couple of napkins so it wouldn't burn her hand as she held it. Her eyes trailed to look at Trunks but regretted it when she found them staring right at her.

"Hey."

She looked away. "You don't need to try to be nice, Trunks, I don't care."

He felt like he needed to defend himself, but how could he? She was right; he feigned kindness. He wasn't so great at hiding his true emotions when it comes to personal problems. Business was way different. He didn't really care much about his business life, just as long as it was up and running. "It's funny how we just ran into each other again, huh?" he found himself asking. "It's like fate doesn't want us to be apart."

She met his eyes again, holding onto her cup of coffee. "Or maybe it's just a stupid coincidence," she replied coldly.

"Pan-"

"We said our goodbyes earlier, didn't we?"

He looked away. "Yeah. I guess we did." He forced a laugh. "So this is really it? We're not to see each other anymore?"

"No," she said softly. "This is really it."

"So if we accidentally bump into each other at the grocery store of something, we-"

"Act like natural strangers. That shouldn't be too hard now, right Trunks?" she spoke his name almost disconsolately. It was a soft, tender tone, and he knew for sure that she loved him.

He looked to the floor, eyes set on the intricate detailed carvings in the designed tiles. Though he was staring at the floor, he wasn't really _looking_ at it. He felt… Guilty. That was the word that described his emotion at the moment. So he knew how Pan felt about him. Now what? What was he supposed to do, tell her that it wouldn't work out because he was with Marron? That wouldn't be the complete truth though. What he truly felt, he realized when he had kissed her earlier, when he had come to check her condition. "I'll really miss you, Pan." He was being truthful, for the first time in a long time.

Her lips seemed to turn slightly upward in a smile, but it was gone quickly. She nodded, not daring to look at him. "Right," she said sarcastically, brushing past him. She could smell the faint smell of his cologne that she loved, and she wanted to turn back and make things right between them. But it was already settled. No matter how much she loved him, not matter how extraordinary their friendship had once been, it didn't matter anymore, because it was over.

She didn't turn back to look at him, and she knew that he wouldn't turn around either, because that was how stubborn he was. Before she made it away from the café, Marron called to her. She turned her head and realized that the blonde had been sitting there all along. Marron's face had turned paler and she looked as if she was in discomfort. "Hey, are you okay?"

She waved her hand as if to dismiss her question. "Of course."

When Pan gave her a look of disbelief, the other woman sighed, giving up her forced smile.

"Okay… I'm not feeling so good. I just swallowed three pills without water."

Pan would have laughed if Marron's condition weren't life threatening. Instead, her mouth dropped, and she handed her cup of coffee to her. "Here, you can have some of mine."

Marron shook her head. "It's okay. Trunks is there getting me one already. I'm fine anyway. But are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're bleeding."

Pan quickly looked down, and it was then that she felt her stomach moist. Blood was seeping through quickly, and she quickly covered it with her hand. She forced a laugh. "Oh, that's nothing. I just sort of… Fell."

"But-"

"I should go and change before people think it's something serious. Besides, I don't want to ruin your lunch with… Him. So I'll see you later, okay?" she started walking before Marron could say something that forced her to stay, so instead, she waved when Pan gave her a small, quick wave, and it was off to find a different place to have lunch.

"Here you go, Marron."

Marron looked up to see her boyfriend smiling warmly at her. To an untrained eye, one would think that he was actually happy, but she could tell he was simulating lightheartedness. "Trunks, what did you say to her?"

He sat down on the chair across from her. "What do you mean?" he asked as she grabbed the cup he held in his hands and sipped it.

"You don't look… Happy."

"I am."

"Trunks,"

"Marron, I'm fine. But you look a little pale…"

She looked away. "Maybe it's just the lighting." She got up from her seat and smiled. "I'm ready to go back to work now. Let's go."

He didn't argue with her proposal, getting up from the chair and walking towards Capsule Corp. together. "Alright. So how about that contract? I thought that they were pushing it a little with the amount of work they expected Capsule to do."

Marron replied back, giving out her opinion about the other company, but his mind wandered off to Pan. He knew he shouldn't be thinking about her, but he couldn't help it. It wasn't a mistake to let her go like that, he was sure, but why did he feel a sharp pang of lovesickness? He couldn't be in love with her too… But he was yearning for everything about her; her scent, her touch, her voice, and that smile on her face that he haven't seen for a long time. Before he went inside the building, he couldn't help but turn around, hoping to see her somewhere, but she wasn't there. He couldn't believe he even turned back to look, even if it was already too late. Was he pining for her to come back to him? He didn't know what he wanted, but he knew what she wanted, and as he stepped into the elevator with Marron, he continued to look at the glass door entrance until the elevator doors shut. He closed his eyes, mentally picturing the girl that had just left him forever, and knew instantly that her desire was for him to love her too.

* * *

A/N: Hm… I'm not too happy about this chapter… But I hope you guys like it… And if not, I'm terribly sorry. I will try to make the next one better. Sorry about the long update too. I was a little lazy this week, but I have news! I am currently making new stories (yes, 'stories' – plural) along with getting this one finished. I got inspired to create multiple story ideas, so watch out for those (although it will take a while… haha).

Thanks for the story recommendations by the way; I will definitely be checking them out!


	25. Please Don't Go

Chapter 25 – Please Don't Go

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_Two weeks later…_

Something was wrong. He could _sense_ it, his body was shaking in fear; not for himself but for someone else – someone he really cared for. He could hear his own heart beat in his head, a loud _thump-thump_ distracting his thoughts. Why was Marron in the hospital? Why was he waiting outside the emergency room unknowing the reason why she was there in the first place? He paced back and forth in front of the maroon tinted chairs and the magazine rack, trying hard not to bite his nails. When did he ever have the habit of biting his nails though, in the first place?? Trunks shook his head. He was going crazy and he knew it. He stopped pacing, letting out a big sigh and closed his eyes. He needed to calm down and… He reopened his eyes and caught sight of familiar dark, pained eyes.

_Pan?_

He blinked a couple times, wondering if it was an illusion. She disappeared after a second. Great. Now he was delusional… Or was he? It had been two weeks from the last time he'd seen her, when she had been suicidal. But why would she be in the hospital too? Was she here to see Marron? How could she have known though?

He walked briskly to the corner of the hallway, accidentally bumping his shoulder into a nurse. He mumbled a quick apology; staring only straight ahead to the corner where he was sure Pan had run off to.

And there she was.

When she realized that he had found her, she flinched and shut her eyes tight, as if anticipating physical pain.

"Pan," he heard himself say to her as he watched her body shake slightly in fear. "What are you doing here?"

She opened her eyes slowly. "I didn't come to see _you_, if that's what you're wondering." Her reply was cold, almost venomous.

He couldn't help but feel slightly angered by her reply. He unclenched his fist, once he realized he was gripping them. "I never thought that at all, I just…" Why was he so furious? "Did _you_ know she was like this? That she'd been sick this whole time?"

Pan desperately tried to blink back tears as she spoke, though her voice contained her true emotions. "How could you not have seen it, Trunks? Are you so blind? Can you not see that she was acting strange and how she was so frail that she couldn't stand alone for 10-"

He shoved her against the wall behind her.

Her vision was blurry now, as the tears wouldn't go away. "Don't touch me," she whispered harshly. "Don't _ever_ touch me again, Trunks. I can't believe you couldn't have at least _noticed_ how different she acted and how she rarely came to work! You can't blame your stupidity on me! If you're so perfect, tell me the reason, if there is any, to why you freakin' kissed me after the day we-"

He grabbed her arm with his hand none too gently, and she shut her eyes tight again. He realized how hard he was holding her arm, and it was then that he realized there were new cuts on her neck. He was no longer in a rage of fury. He finally caught himself before he did anything he would regret later.

He didn't mean to hurt her like that. From the way she spoke to him and the way she looked so guilty proved that she knew that Marron had been ill the whole time and yet, she never told him.

Pan breathed in heavily and she opened her eyes. So far, there were no tears. She had become better at holding them back the day she shut her life away from everyone else's. "Aren't you going to hit me, Trunks?" she still spoke his name as if she really loved him. But if he was asked whether she did or not, her answer would be a solid 'no'. "I know you want to because I never told you when I found out. I know you're blaming me for the state she's in right now." Her voice shook slightly, but she went on anyway. "I know that… There's nothing I can do to make you stop hating me because I can't bring her back." She desperately wanted to feel pain. She truly did. She felt she deserved it because in her mind, she felt like the one to blame for everything. "Hit me as much as you want, Trunks, nothing hurts as much as what I'm feeling right now."

He loosened the grip on her arm and his free hand came up to gently grab her other arm. "Why didn't you tell me, Pan?" his angry, cold tone had changed into a sad one. His voice wavered, as if he was on the verge of breaking down, just like she was. "Why didn't you?"

"Mr. Briefs?"

The sound of the doctor's voice calling for him allowed Pan to escape from his grasp. She didn't run away though. She didn't come here just to see if Trunks was here. She wanted to see Marron.

Trunks held in a breath as he waited for the doctor to continue speaking. "Mr. Briefs, I'm so sorry…"

He didn't need to continue, as Trunks ran to the room Marron was in, Pan following close behind. The door flew open and they saw her; her face a sickening pale white, her hair so thin, and her body skeleton-like that her bones were sticking out and shown even under her clothing and the thin blue blankets.

"The surgery only bought her time, Mr. Briefs." Trunks turned around to see the doctor standing in the doorway. "She's not going to live for long. I'll let you two talk to her privately." The doctor turned around and left, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Pan watched as Trunks walked to Marron's side, kneeling so that he was level with her. She felt a tear drop down to her cheeks, and knowing he wanted to talk to his girlfriend alone, she turned around and left too, waiting for the two to finish talking.

Marron slowly opened her eyes, and she smiled weakly when she saw him. "Hey," she said quietly.

He had to blink numerously and look up to keep the tears from falling. "Hey," he said back, trying to sound calm, but failed as his voice wavered when he spoke.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

He grabbed onto her hand lying on the side, warming her cold hand with his warm ones. He forced a laugh, but as he did, he broke down, covering his face with their joined hands. He shook his head. "No, I'm sorry I didn't pay attention and realize your pain." He cried harder, squeezing her hand a little and continued. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, and I'm sorry I was so stupid."

Marron tried to laugh, but she cried too, watching him break down in front of her. "Trunks, stop it. You're supposed to be the President of Capsule Corp. You're the boss of everyone. You're supposed to be strong."

"Kami, you don't know what I did, Marron. I-" he couldn't finish.

She watched him as he shook, not able to see his face because of their hands. When it seemed like he wasn't going to respond, she gently squeezed his hand.

"She was drunk and I…" He squeezed her hand back. "I slept with her," he whispered. He heard her sniffle, and then she laughed weakly.

"It's okay, Trunks," she started, her voice shaking terribly as she tried not to break down. "I was like that before, remember? I was… So messed up before, but you know, you can still change. You have time."

He brought their hands down, uncovering his face. "Why aren't you angry, Marron??"

She laughed again. "Because I learned to deal with it. I hope you're still you, even after I-"

"What are you talking about? I'll find a way, I'll get the doctors to-"

She shook her head, tears gliding down her cheeks. "Don't be naïve. I don't want you to give up your life just because of me. I know you're in love with her, Trunks, even in the beginning, before we were together. I could sense it, you know? That's why I was so distant. I wanted you to realize that, but… I didn't think it'd take that long."

"I'm not in love with her."

She shook her head again, this time with less motion as if she was in disbelief. "Don't be stupid, Trunks. You know you are; don't let it be too late. Don't make that mistake."

"It's not a mistake, Marron, the mistake was sleeping with her."

"Don't hurt her," she whispered. He looked away and she sighed. "I love you so much, Trunks. But sometimes you don't understand."

There it was again: those words that were always ringing in his head ever since Pan had spoken them long ago. _You don't understand anything._ He closed his eyes, bringing his hand to wipe his eyes. "She's here, you know. She knew you were sick but she didn't tell me."

"I told her not to. She promised me."

"I'm so sorry I hurt you."

She laughed weakly again. "I knew it would happen, Trunks. I brought it upon myself when I agreed to become your girlfriend. It's okay. I learned to accept it. Don't blame Pan." She gripped his hand again. "Please don't be angry at her." When she winced in pain, he stood up, panic written all over his face. Before he could speak, she shook her head. "I'm okay. I want to talk to Pan right now, okay?"

He hesitantly agreed. "Alright." He let go of her hand and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "I love you," he whispered, and she smiled.

"I'm sorry I slacked off at work," she joked, and he forced a laugh.

"Hey, it just means this lazy President's gotta get going and actually start working."

She laughed with him, and then slowly closed her eyes. "Can you go get Pan? I'm starting to get a little sleepy."

He nodded and gave her one more kiss on the cheek before slowly leaving her side. When he opened the door, Pan was standing by the side, her eyes glued to the ground. "She said she wanted to talk to you," he said, his voice emotionless.

Pan didn't look at him, or even acknowledge his words. She quickly walked passed him and into Marron's room, shutting the door behind her. When she saw her, she nearly broke down. Pan walked to her, covering her own nose and mouth with her hand so that she wouldn't cry. When she was by her side, a sniffle escaped from her lips.

Marron opened her eyes and looked at the crying girl. She smiled, reaching out to touch Pan's hand. "Why are you crying, Pan? I remember when we were little; you worked so hard to achieve such a strong and tough appearance. You're not going to just throw that away just because I'm like this, are you?"

Pan shook her head. "Marron, I'm so sorry. I didn't…"

She knew what her words meant. "Trunks told me. But you know, I'm not mad." Her eyes watered, and a tear dropped down to her cheek as she spoke. "I knew you guys were close. He was the guy to bring you back home from the bar. It's not like he was just going to leave you there. You know he loves you, right?"

Pan looked away. "I don't really care whether he does or not."

"You don't mean that. I know he does. And you-"

"It's stupid, I know." She forced a fake smile, hot tears falling from her face.

It was then that Marron noticed cuts on the girl's forehead, neck, and hands. "It's not stupid, Pan. Don't… Don't throw everything away like that. And don't blame yourself for everything. I told him that I made you promise me not to tell him. That was my choice. I didn't want him to worry." She smiled when Pan looked to her. "Thanks for keeping that promise, Pan. I know it was hard. He can be so stubborn sometimes." She knew her time was almost up, and she quickly spoke, "Live a happy life, Pan. Everything will work out somehow." She closed her eyes. She laughed weakly. "Close the door on your way out, okay?"

Pan held in a breath. Was she gone? When the computer next to her stopped its steady beeping and held a long tone, she ran to the door and with a panicked and scared voice, she screamed for help.

They couldn't save her.

Pan stood outside of the room, listening to the doctors' voice through the walls, their voice muffled. She was crying, feeling foolish for trying to seem tough when she was a child. She shook her head, feeling her body grow numb. She hardly felt it when someone's hands grasped her shoulder until she heard him cry with her.

She wasn't sure if he was the one who turned her around and pulled her into an embrace. "I'm so sorry." She could smell his familiar scent invading her sense, and it was then that she realized that it was she who turned herself around. She was the one who cried into his chest and repeated the words 'I'm sorry' over and over again, as if one time wasn't enough. She was the one that needed the most closure from Marron, and though Marron understood, she thought that it wasn't enough.

So she wanted to end the pain.

She pulled away from Trunks quickly and without a word, she ran as fast as she could, away from the hospital. She cried as she ran, her body completely numb. She felt as if it were her fault that Marron was dead. So she just ran until she collapsed in front of an abandoned, tall building. She felt her flesh rip at the palm of her hands when she skidded a few inches but it didn't matter to her. She wasn't going to feel it anymore soon. Pan slowly got up, hot tears sliding down her cheeks to her chin as she went inside the abandoned building through a broken window. When she was inside, she climbed the flight of stairs leading to the rooftop. No blood is to be shed, she decided. She wanted to end it quickly.

She could hear her heartbeat thumping hard inside of her when she opened the door to the rooftop and as the wind blew into her face, her hair blowing wildly to the side, she knew there was no turning back now. She couldn't reverse her death or her attempt because this time, she wasn't going to slowly bleed to death.

Her steps were small, going from the door to the edge and she closed her eyes, stopping at the very edge. There was a small room next to her, the window also partially broken, glass still at the edges. She could have just grabbed a shard of the glass, but that wasn't how she wanted to end her life. It wasn't quick enough. "Kami, I'm so sorry," she whispered under her breath. "I can't do this anymore." Her hands were gripped into a tight fist and just as she finished speaking, she held in a breath and jumped, her thoughts still running through her mind.

She hadn't expected to fall in love with her best friend.

She hadn't expected Marron to die.

And she hadn't expected to feel pain shoot up in her right arm and to stop falling, still in midair. She cried out in pain, her left arm grabbing onto her right shoulder.

She looked up, and it was then that she realized Trunks was on his stomach on the rooftop, his right hand on the side of the broken window of the small room, holding him there, and his left hand grasping her hand tightly. He groaned loudly in pain as he felt his right hand pulled against the shards of broken glass on the edge of the window, the weight of Pan adding more to it. When their eyes met, she noticed tears at the edge of his eyes. "I'm not going to lose you too, Pan." His voice was quiet but firm.

Her body shook as she looked away, to the ground hundreds of feet below her, her body occasionally hitting the building as she gently swayed back and forth. She sobbed, tears cascading down her face, shaking her head side to side. "I didn't want you to save me, Trunks," she sobbed weakly. Her left arm that was holding on to her right shoulder slowly reached up to where his hand was holding her. She grabbed onto his wrist.

"Please don't," he whispered.

She shook her head again. "I can't handle this, Trunks." Her voice was weak, as if all of her energy was drained; used up and there were none left. She started to feel her body come out of the numb state and she felt entire pain shoot throughout her body, starting with the palms of her hands where she had skidded against the ground minutes ago.

He tightened his hold on her. "If you make me let go, I'll jump off with you."

She laughed bitterly. "Don't be stupid."

"I'm not the one hanging from the top of this building, am I?" he shot back, though he sounded scared. When she didn't answer him, he closed his eyes, tears threatening to fall. But he couldn't break down now at this moment. He needed to have the strength to keep his grip on her. Tears fell from his cheeks, his emotions finally out in the open instead of bottled up inside, and he swore under his breath. "Don't do this to me."

"Two weeks, Trunks. We haven't spoken to each other in two weeks. Why the heck are you caring now?" Pan's voice shook as she spoke.

He didn't answer. He didn't even know what his answer to her question. His girlfriend had just died. He couldn't have moved on that quickly, could he? Unless he had never loved Marron the way he thought he did. "I never stopped caring, Pan." That was the truth. And that was probably the most truthful thing he's ever said to her ever since he started denying his feelings for her. He heard her cry even harder, but he continued to speak. "Stay with me," he whispered, pleadingly.

"I don't understand you at all," she cried quietly, her left hand letting go of his hand. Trunks felt the adrenaline still pumping through his veins and he used all of his strength and pulled her up slowly, inch by inch. When he finally grabbed hold of her firmly, he collapsed on the ground, his hand a bloody mess, but he didn't seem to notice. Pan was in his arms, safe from the edge of the building.

She was crying hard into his chest, holding onto him as if he would disappear if she let go, and he held onto her that same way. "I'm so sorry," she cried, shaking her head. He buried his head on the material covering her shoulders and he shut his eyes tight, his body shaking as he cried silently with her.

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, although I find it kind of hard to because it was so depressing… Hehe, it's my mood again and it's sort of affecting the mood of the story, but I hope it's alright. I was able to get Trunks to make her stay with him, if that makes it any better. Anyway, this story's going to end soon, after maybe 1 or 2 chapters… I'm not sure yet, but count on either 1 very long chapter or 2 sort of short chapters.


	26. I'll Stay Here, Forever

Chapter 26 – Here, Forever

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Among the stack of paperwork, Trunks Briefs was at his desk, his forehead resting on the palm of his hands as worked. Life was strange. It moved forward, not waiting for anyone to cope with the emotional pain that needed to be dwelt. It was as if nothing had happened. And to the untrained eye, no one would have suspected anything different about him. His employees at work never mentioned Marron, as they suspected they shouldn't bother asking. They were afraid it had something to do with business complications and they weren't ranked in a high enough status to know about any of it. Besides, they were too busy. And so was he. The piles of paperwork blocked his view of the door opposite of him. His stack of work increased since she wasn't around.

He caught himself staring at the words in front of him, pen poised, ready to sign his name but he wasn't really reading any of it. He was staring at the words but he wasn't processing them in his mind. Trunks closed his eyes and he felt his nose tingle and the tears accumulating at the corners of his eyes. He was thinking about her again.

"Mr. Briefs?"

The sound of a female employee's voice brought him back to business. He quickly sat up straight, his fingers going up to his eyes and rubbing them. He appeared to be rubbing away the sleepiness, but in truth, he was getting rid of the proof of his small breakdown. He cleared his throat and spoke. "Yes?"

"Ms. Chestnut's possessions were still at her desk so we put it in a box. Do you want me to throw it away?"

He leaned to his right so he could face the person speaking, and his eyes caught sight of the box of Marron's belongings. "No, leave it here. I'll take a look at it later."

"Alright. By the way, you have a meeting at 1:00."

"Thanks." He waited until she left, closing the door behind her, before he got up from his chair and took the box from the floor. His hands shook as he carried it over to his desk, and he placed the box on his lap, as there was no space on his desk. He hesitantly grabbed hold of the lid. Did he really want to see what was in there and risk having another breakdown? Then again, there might be something she wanted him to see. That was enough for him to reveal what was in the box. His eyes caught sight of an envelope with his name on the front.

It appeared to be some sort of business letter, probably to fool any employees who might have caught sight of the letter, but he knew it couldn't regard the company. She would have given it to him if that were so. His fingers grazed the indented area where the pen pressed against the paper as she wrote is name, as if to memorize her handwriting. He opened the letter after a while of making sure he had enough self-composure left in him to be able to read what she wrote to him without feeling the need to cry. He prepared himself, taking a deep breath before actually reading, his hands trembling slightly as he held it.

'_Trunks,_

_There's not enough apologizes I can say or write to make up for everything I did. I kept my illness a secret until the end, but it's not only that. I feel guilty all the time, even when our time together was wonderful. I know I should've let you know that I was aware that our relationship wouldn't have lasted anyway - That I could tell you had feelings for another woman, even before we were together. I guess I just hoped that maybe, just maybe, you could learn to love me. But as I spent more time with you, I became aware that nothing could be changed. So instead of breaking it off just like that, I wanted to let you know for yourself as I distanced myself from you. I wasn't expecting my illness to take me that quickly, but it's all right now. I learned to accept it._

_I hope you understand everything now; everything that I've been hinting all along. You say you're not lonely, but are you really? Is there anything missing – something… Someone… That's truly important in your life? Do you feel that gaping dark hole in your heart everyday when you wake up? When I look at you, your eyes show the pain your heart feels, and I don't know if you're aware of this, but if you are, don't ignore it. Don't make the mistake of shutting her out of your life._

_- Marron'_

For a moment, he just stared at her signature, wondering how on earth she knew these things. Then he reread the letter, her voice echoing in his mind as if she was really speaking to him.

_Don't make the mistake of shutting her out of your life_.

He glanced at his watch. It was 12:00, his lunch break. He got up from his chair and exited his office, leaving the letter safely in his drawer, locked. As he walked through the hallway, he could hear people whispering, spreading rumors about his former secretary who they knew was his girlfriend. He wanted to tell them to shut up and get back to work but he couldn't. His display of anger would only set them off more and who knows, someone just might have enough guts to write an article about him and Marron and publish it in a magazine.

Once he was out of the building, he walked across the street to the café, in hopes to find someone: the woman who stayed with him despite her previous efforts to commit suicide, and not just once, but twice. He didn't catch sight of her there. He turned around, walking towards the corner where he had bumped into her before, hoping there would be another freak coincidence, but when he turned around in the corner, she wasn't there either. He sighed, running his hands through his hair. Maybe this was for the best, he thought. It would probably be too awkward anyway, if they were to see each other this soon after he saved her from killing herself.

He walked to a nearby grocery store, hands in his pockets. When customers shouted his name, knowing very well who he was, he gave them a smile. He stopped by the deli area, looking at the display of sandwiches available. Just when he was about to grab one, his eyes caught sight of a girl with dark hair, who had turned in a corner across from him. Before he knew what he was doing, he was running toward her and when he caught up to her, he grabbed her hand. The girl turned around, a frightened look on her face, and he realized that she wasn't who he was looking for. "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else," he apologized, and the girl smiled.

"You're Trunks Briefs?" she asked when he let go of her.

"Yeah."

"Can I have your autograph?" she asked excitedly, and he sighed softly but smiled.

"Sure. I'm sorry I scared you earlier." He grabbed the pen she held out to him and signed a picture of him that she handed him. He wasn't surprised that she had his picture; many of his fans had them, prepared to get it signed if they ever saw him. He handed the girl the picture, now with his autograph and her pen. Then he said his goodbyes and turned back to the deli section. Once he bought it, he walked out of the grocery store, eating his sandwich along the way back to the café. He ate there, after buying himself a cup of coffee.

He glanced at his watch. He didn't have much time left before his lunch break ended, but he wasn't in too much hurry. Five minutes wasn't a big deal. He sat there, thinking about Marron's letter. She had changed so much since the day he hired her as his secretary. She was really a great person. It was unfair that she had to be the one to be diagnosed with the illness. Couldn't the Gods see how much she has changed? He closed his eyes. It's so frustrating. And Pan was dealing with twice as much pain he was feeling, he knew. She lost both of her parents and she had to deal with keeping such a huge secret from him about Marron because of a promise.

He knew he probably would have tried to commit suicide too if he were in her situation. But would that solve anything? Wouldn't it just cause more pain to those who were still living? If he hadn't followed her out of that hospital, she would be gone, just like Marron. What would he have done then? He was sure he wouldn't be here, finishing his sandwich and coffee at his lunch break.

12:35. It was time to head back to work.

When he opened his office door, he noticed something was different. His chair wasn't facing the door as he had left it earlier before his lunch break. He leaned a little to the left and caught sight of an arm, and before he could speak, the chair swiveled around and his mouth nearly fell open when he caught sight of the person. His heart skipped a beat.

"You're five minutes late, Mr. Briefs," she spoke, a smile that he missed terribly set on her lips.

It was then that he knew that she was here to stay. They wouldn't let anything get in the way of ruining what they had left, and as he walked over to her and enveloped her in a warm embrace, he whispered beside her ear, "Welcome back, Pan." He was aware of the scabs she had on the side of her neck but he knew they weren't new ones. She was going to go through this with him. And he was thankful for that.

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A/N: Yeah, I know, its short. But it was a fast update! … Well.. fast enough for you guys I hope. Thanks for the reviews, you guys. I really do appreciate each and every one of them. I'm pretty sure the next chapter will be the last one (finally, after 26 chapters, huh?) I'm sure you guys are tired of me making it hard for Trunks and Pan to get together and you just want to get them together already and move on, so I hope I can do that without making it too cliché. I think the hardest part of writing a story is writing a good ending, so I'll try my hardest!


	27. Epilogue

**Chapter 27 - Epilogue**

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_One Month Later…_

_I felt like I had found my heart that had been lost since I found him with the woman in his living room, myself in his room stupidly waiting for him. He told me to stay with him; that he had always cared about me even after everything that happened between us. I felt so safe in his arms when he held me on top of that building the day I tried to escape from the world. I could still feel my heart race when I saw him. My heart pounded against my chest like it did when his lips pressed against mine. Even now when I think about it, I could feel the warmth in his kiss as I watched the cars go by outside my window, waiting for sleep to drag me back to bed. I knew it wouldn't though. I couldn't sleep when I was thinking about him. It had been awkward since he saved me from myself, but we didn't talk about what happened from the time Marron came into his life. We decided that we were still going to be friends, nothing else. But I knew that I didn't agree with him. I wanted us to be more._

_- Pan_

Pan closed her eyes, her body hunched against the couch, finally feeling the drowsiness pleading her eyelids to close. The hairs on her arms stood straight up as she felt a draft, but she didn't bother getting up from the couch to go to bed. Though she knew full well that she'd catch a cold if she just stayed there, she refused to leave. This was the first time in a long time that she finally felt she could sleep. She wasn't going to let the cold wake her up.

--

"Pan."

She ignored the sound of her name being called.

"Pan, come on."

She turned so that she faced the back of the couch, her arms bundling close to her body to contain heat.

"Wake up, lazy!"

This time, she grumbled, annoyed that she was being woken up so early in the morning that her 6 'o clock alarm didn't ring yet. When she didn't hear another attempt to wake her, she relaxed again, her breathing steady as she tried to go back to sleep.

That is, until she felt him breathe down her neck and whisper, "I can see down your shirt."

That was all she needed to hear to instantly turn around before he knew what was happening to push him and sit up from her spot, her hands quickly going up to her neckline. Trunks fell down with a small 'oof' but he didn't get up. Instead, he just lay there on the ground, as if dead.

"I was kidding," he said quietly, and then his head fell to the side, as if he had just whispered his last words to her.

Pan felt her cheeks flare up from embarrassment. "Trunks, that was a sick joke," she said, waiting for him to get up. But he didn't. She couldn't help but smile at his actions to mimic what she used to do when she visited him before he went to work. She got up from the couch and left him to go to her bathroom and freshen up. When she came back down, already showered and dressed, he was still on the floor. She had to admit; he was good. He didn't move at all even when she had been gone to shower. She walked over to him and kneeled beside him. Before she did anything to him, she studied his features. He was still muscular like he had been in the past, and she wondered whether he still trained even though he'd never really need all that strength. Then again, if he had stopped training, he probably couldn't have pulled her up from the edge of the building that easily. She smiled when he opened an eye to look at her and then quickly shut them when he realized she was watching him. "Trunks, come on, get up-"

Her words were interrupted when he pushed her down and getting on top of her. She let out a small scream, surprised, but it was soon replaced with laughter when he started tickling her sides. Her face turned red and she could hardly breath as she continued to laugh. She tried to get up but found it hard to since he was straddling her stomach, and she had to use all of her energy to push him off her. He laughed but grabbed her arm and pulled her to him but their laughter stopped when she lost her balance and fell against him, their noses bumping roughly.

She blinked, feeling his breath against her lips and quickly pulled away from him. Pretending nothing out of the ordinary happened; she put on a fake smile and laughed. "You're incredibly stupid, you know that?"

He felt a smile tug at his lips but he couldn't help but feel disappointed that she had recovered so quickly. "And you're incredibly stunning."

After his comment, she gently nudged his shoulder but her smile still remained. She felt her face flush red again as she replied, "Shut up, Trunks, you shouldn't trifle with people like me."

"There's no one like you in the world, Pan."

"There you go again! Seriously, I've had enough with your stupid lines." She watched as he crawled closer to her, stopping right in front of her face. She didn't flinch.

"They're not lines," he spoke quietly. He was serious and she realized that, her smile fading. "I know I'm stupid. And I'm sorry." His voice was just above a whisper as he continued, watching as her eyes water but she didn't let the tears fall. "I still can't believe I suggested we become strangers." This was the first time he'd brought up the subject of their unstable past, and she felt the emotions she'd felt before come back and haunt her. "I can't believe I nearly let you go out of my life, even for that short time. But to me, it felt like years. When I saw you run from the hospital, I _had_ to follow you. I knew you weren't just running because you were alone with me." He gave her a sad, small smile. "I'm so glad I followed you, Pan. If you weren't here right now, I don't know what I'd do. But I know that I'd feel like I was the one responsible because I can be so ignorant and foolish that I somehow forget what you're going through. Now I can't sleep without thinking about you."

She closed the space between them, her lips hesitant against his. She broke apart instantly when she realized what she had done. His eyes met hers and before she got up from her spot, he grabbed her arm and with his other hand, he gently grasped her chin. "Stay here," he whispered and he leaned forward until his lips brushed her cheek, and then he slowly moved lower to her jaw line. He gently kissed her there and he heard her gasp.

She grabbed his hand from her chin and leaned away from him, breathing heavily but he only followed her. "Trunks," she mumbled, closing her eyes as his lips made contact to her again. Her mouth parted slightly as she breathed raggedly, trying to regain her thoughts. "Trunks," she repeated, sighing out his name this time. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"You know what."

His hands just brushed her chin again, and he leaned in until he was right by her ear. "Actually, I don't know what you don't want me to do."

"That," she mumbled. "Don't do that."

He chuckled quietly. "I know you like that, Pan," he said, but he did as she asked and leaned back. He smiled at her and when she looked away, he did too, to the floor beside him. When he felt her leg bump into his when she moved, he turned back to look at her.

Their noses inevitably bumped, and he felt her breath against his lips. He couldn't help but move his head so that their lips brushed, but only for a short time, as he leaned back only slightly so that only their noses were still touching.

"I thought we were just friends, Trunks," she whispered, but he didn't reply. Instead, he brushed his lips against hers again as if he knew he shouldn't be doing that but he couldn't help it. Then he tilted his head so that he could kiss the corner of her lips. He lingered there momentarily, waiting for her reaction. Pan unconsciously parted her lips but when he tilted his head again to close the space between them, she looked away. He half laughed, his head still where it was earlier when he was just about to kiss her. "You're killing me, Pan." He looked at her right when she glanced shyly at him, and he smiled briefly.

Pan sighed softly and looked away, but returned her gaze to him after. "Trunks…" she really didn't know what she wanted to tell him. There were so many things she had once wanted to say, but now that she was able to tell him, she didn't know where to start.

"If you want me to stop," he mumbled, as he looked away for a moment. "Tell me," he continued, "and I'll leave you alone."

"I don't…" She sighed again and continued. "I don't want you to leave."

He met her eyes then and slowly but steadily leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. He brought his free hand to her back and pressed her against him, and felt her grab his hand. He could tell that she was surprised because she instantly gasped and her other hand grabbed his shoulder in an innocent matter. Her innocence ended quickly as she pressed her lower body to his roughly. He wasn't sure if she had done this purposely, but whether it was or not, he sharply inhaled.

But it was all over in a matter of seconds. Pan breathed in deeply and let go of him. Then she cleared her throat and looked at him. "I gotta go," she whispered.

He didn't let go of her. "Pan." He waited for her to meet his eyes. "I'm tired of doing this."

"Doing what?"

He sighed. "You know what." It was his turn to say it. "I don't want to pretend that nothing happened."

"_Nothing_ happened."

"Pan,"

"What??"

"You know darn well what!" He sighed, exasperated, and closed his eyes for a second. Then he reopened them. "I'm in love with you, Pan," he whispered.

She looked away instantly, and he noticed her lip tremble slightly. She didn't speak for a moment. Instead, she bit her bottom lip and looked to her feet. Trunks' heart was pounding in his chest, and he felt like he couldn't breathe. Why wasn't she saying anything? Before he knew what was happening, Pan was on her feet, walking quickly toward the door. She was almost out the door when he realized what had just happened, and before he could think, he got up, grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Pan, I-"

Before he could finish, she shoved him and nearly broke down to tears. She was so scared to be with him, and the only way she knew how to get out of this was to tell him the reason they couldn't be in love with each other. "I'm like your little sister, remember? I'm a nuisance to-"

"If you thought of me as your brother, why are you in love with me?"

"Did I ever say I was in love with you, Trunks?"

He took a step toward her. "Yeah, Pan, you did."

She pushed his hand away when he was about to put it on her shoulder.

He put both his hands on her shoulder, and refused to let go when she tried to pull away. Pan put both of her hands on his forearm to push him away but she wasn't able to. When she gave up attempting to escape from his grasp and looked at their feet, he stepped closer to her again, so that he could feel her breath on his neck.

She used her body to push him away, but he still held on to her so she was pulled with him. They fell on top of the couch, and unfortunately for her, he rolled quickly so that she was pinned underneath him. "What the heck was that for, Pan?" He put his hands on her shoulder so she couldn't get up.

"Get off of me," she demanded, trying to wriggle her arms free.

"Or what?" When she didn't respond, he slid his arms down to her forearm, so that he was touching her skin, not her shirt. When she shivered from his touch, he smirked. "Doesn't this position look oddly familiar?"

"You're sick, Trunks," she spoke quietly.

Though she had insulted him, the way she spoke his name told him that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. He slowly moved his thumb up and down her arm and watched her reaction to his touch. She tensed up for a split second, and her breathing became irregular. He continued to stare into her eyes, though she didn't make eye contact with him, and slowly leaned forward to kiss her left cheek. "If you weren't in love with me, you wouldn't have kissed me back earlier," he whispered. "Or were you just toying with me?" He moved lower to her jaw line and kissed her there, listening to her breathing. Then he moved even lower to her neck, and at first, he just kissed her like he had been doing, but then he opened his mouth slightly and lavished her with slow, passionate kisses.

She sighed out his name quietly, and he felt her move under him. "What are you doing?" she whispered, emotionless. Her arm was pushing up against his hand, as if she wanted him to let go of her. He heard her gasp when he moved to a sensitive spot on her neck, and her arm was pushing up on him with more force. She whispered his name again and her breathing quickened, and in response, he gripped her arm and moved it above her head. Pan struggled to move her legs, but when she finally was able to, she unknowingly moved it to press against him.

Trunks had to stop then, and he sharply took in a breath. It was then that he realized what he was doing. "Tell me to stop, Pan," he whispered above her neck. "And I will."

For the first time since they landed on the couch, she looked into his eyes. "If we do anything right now, would you regret it?" she asked quietly, her breath against his lips.

He struggled to control his body then, but he knew that she was aware of what he was feeling. "No," he answered her, just as quietly.

Then she put her hands on his shoulder and, just like he did to her, she slid her hands down to his forearm. Trunks met her eyes and before he could say anything, he watched as she slowly leaned forward and stopped just before their lips met. She looked at him for a second, into his eyes, as if searching for any sign of deceitfulness and after a moment, she gently pressed her lips against his, almost innocently, and he placed his right hand behind her neck to bring her closer to him. She tilted her head more to the left and opened her mouth just slightly, to catch his upper lip while he caught her lower one.

He pulled away when she grabbed onto his belt. She met his eyes and they stared at each other for a second. He whispered her name in a questioning tone.

At first, she thought he had changed his mind, but when he didn't move from his spot, she had to ask. "What?"

"Marry me."

She blinked, her heart stopping for a split second. "What?" she repeated, as if she thought she misheard.

He chuckled and gently knocked his forehead with hers. "Will you marry me?" he whispered, and a big smile graced upon her lips. Sure, he had horrible timing when it came to telling her that he loves her, as well as asking her to marry him, but that was one of the reasons she fell in love with him. She was really the only one who understood how his mind worked.

She bumped her nose gently with his and whispered her answer, "Yeah, Trunks, I will," before she pressed her lips against his in a passionate kiss.

--

_Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if Marron hadn't died; if she wasn't diagnosed with cancer. Would she have tried to tell me what mistakes I was making still? Would she have given up and just stayed with me, letting me fall into a world where I would eventually lose my best friend? When I think about her and that letter she wrote to me, I know, without a doubt, that she would've gotten me to realize what I was doing. She would've ended the relationship we had together and tell me that I was being stupid. And I was. I was an ignorant, stubborn fool who only worked well in the business world. My work was getting in the way of my personal life and I almost forgot how I was supposed to deal with problems unrelated to business. But Marron was able to get through to me and slap the cold hard truth in my face… Figuratively speaking, of course. Actually inflicting pain on me would be Pan. But I couldn't blame her. I put her through so much pain and the loss of her parents added to that. I'm amazed that she was able to go through with everything. But I know we'll get through any more conflicts the unfair, twisted world has for us in the future, because we'll be together, forever. And I won't be mistaking any mistakes with her by my side._

_Trunks_

* * *

_END_

A/N: It's finished! Wow, it took me about a year to get this story complete… I remember when I started this story. Haha. I think I wrote that I wanted to prove to myself that I could write a decent story, so I hope it was! Alrighty, it's time to give thanks to all my reviewers!

Jazzyfizzler

XoBrTyToX

Listenserendipity

Tashina

Supersaiyanx

SamuraiGirl7

Goodknight

Nikki-4

Hermione Double

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Trunksonly

Avril89

CrAzY-Fan-Fic-Addict

Kureeji

piXiikAy

AnimeFreak-TrunksPan-Lover4evr

Wild Horefeathers8753

Raven-Ann-Selene-Lunae

Cherry111

Wild-one08

MorgauseNokami

Eyr

Lady555

Kitti.Kaede.

xItachis-Luverx

Jasmin

I have one (haha, funny name…:D )

Maz2

Reader

Baylayyyy, dawg!

AlondraM

-2d2la-

Crystal

Puertorrican-babe

Hinataxx

Raditz's Onna

Toki-chan

Lovesanime92

Samantha

Ankaa

Shayray

Qwertyuiop o.O

SilverNimbus

Hynori

Pan-chan34

Tpfan

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Nopennameattmnt

Suika07

Miki23

Lilyoko

Tpfan4life

Virgo vixen

Nevaeh azalea

Rieki

SSJ-Pan-chan

I think that's all. I'm SO sorry if I didn't type your name here. It may be because I was glancing at the review page and might have skipped it or something…

Thank you all for reading! I hope you'll continue to read some of my other stories!

**Important note: After June 2, I will be unable to update as much because I will not have my own computer, and since no one in my family knows I write, I can't type it in my family computer unless in secret (which will be hard to do). So I hope I will be able to post as many stories/chapters as much as I can before the 3 month break (unless I find a way to quickly and secretly upload more) but I hope that you guys will be patient and wait for more. I'm sure that I will be able to sneak some a few times, so be prepared for those starting June!**


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